On Tuesday, a federal jury in Boston found a man from Revere, Massachusetts guilty of defrauding rideshare companies by creating false driver accounts using stolen identities and using those accounts to drive for those firms.
The 39-year-old defendant, Thiago De Souza Prado, was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and three charges of aggravated identity theft. The sentencing has been set for December 18th, 2023 by Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf of the United States. Prado and 17 other individuals, including co-conspirators Flavio Da Silva, Wemerson Dutra Aguiar, and Luiz Neto, were brought up on charges and indicted in May of 2021. Following his guilty plea to the associated charges in March 2023, Aguiar was handed a jail term of 45 months’ duration. The date when Da Silva will receive his sentence is set for October 10th, 2023. On November 22, 2022, Neto entered a guilty plea, and he fled the country before his sentence was set to take place in April 2023.
Prado allegedly began obtaining stolen Massachusetts driver’s licences and purchasing social security numbers on the dark web beginning in 2019, according to the evidence that was given in court. After that, he and his other conspirators made use of the stolen identities in order to successfully pass the criminal background checks, the sex offender registry check, and the driving record check that were required by the rideshare businesses as well as the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Prado and his other conspirators used the stolen social security numbers in order to file bogus tax returns using accounts that they had opened fraudulently. Prado either utilised the driving accounts himself or rented them out to others who likewise were unable to pass the background checks. This was typically the case because the individuals did not have social security numbers and were in the United States illegally. Prado also used his false driver accounts to obtain bonuses from rideshare providers by referring his other fake driver accounts as new drivers. This was done by linking his fake driver accounts to other fake driver accounts. In addition, Prado and his accomplices utilised an app that they referred to as “the drone” to mimic rides and ride lengths in order to defraud rideshare businesses into paying them for “ghost rides” or for rides that were longer and more expensive than those that were actually performed. Prado was able to collect payments through bank accounts that he had formed in the names of people who had their identities stolen.
Both the accusation of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and the charge of actually committing wire fraud each carry a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or twice the amount gained or lost as a result of the crime. Each count of aggravated identity theft carries with it the potential for a term of twenty-four months in prison, in addition to any other sentence that may be imposed, one year of supervised release, and a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or double the amount gained or lost as a result of the offence. A federal district court will decide the defendant’s sentence after taking into account the United States Sentencing Guidelines as well as any other statutory criteria that are relevant to the case.
Today’s statement was made by Zachary Cunha, the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, and Jodi Cohen, the Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Division. The Social Security Administration, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles all contributed significantly to the effort, which was greatly appreciated. The prosecution of the case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Kriss Basil and David Holcomb, both of whom work in the Securities, Financial, and Cyber Fraud Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Following the recusal of the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, the Department of Justice tasked Mr. Cunha with the responsibility of supervising this case.
