Kamal Ghorui
Two Indian American men from Glastonbury were charged in federal court with using thousands of stolen identities to defraud FanDuel, a major US online sports betting company, and other online gambling platforms of roughly $3 million.A federal grand jury in New Haven returned a 45-count indictment on February 3 charging Amitoj Kapoor, 29, and Siddharth Lillaney, 29, both of Glastonbury, with fraud, identity theft, and money laundering offences, the US Attorney’s Office, District of Connecticut, announced on Feb. 7.The announcement was made by David X. Sullivan, US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, along with Thomas Demeo, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation in New England, and Bryan T. Cafferelli, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.Kapoor and Lillaney were arrested on Feb. 5 and appeared before the US Magistrate Judge Maria E. Garcia in New Haven. Both were released on US$300,000 bonds.According to court documents and statements made in court, the defendants conspired to defraud online gambling companies, primarily FanDuel, by opening accounts using the personal identifying information of identity theft victims in Connecticut and elsewhere.Prosecutors alleged the accounts were used to exploit promotional incentives offered to new users, including bonuses, credits, and bonus bets.To open the accounts, Kapoor and Lillaney allegedly purchased stolen personal data belonging to thousands of victims from darknet marketplaces and through the encrypted messaging service Telegram.Authorities said the two men also maintained accounts on background-check websites to obtain additional information about victims and used that data to answer identity-verification questions during the account sign-up process.If a wager placed with a bonus bet resulted in winnings, prosecutors alleged the funds were transferred to virtual stored-value cards backed by FDIC-insured financial institutions that were linked to the gambling platforms. The proceeds were then moved into bank and investment accounts controlled by the defendants.Federal authorities alleged that since 2021, Kapoor and Lillaney used the personal information of approximately 3,000 identity theft victims to open accounts across FanDuel and other online gambling platforms, generating about US$3 million in profits.“As alleged, these two men used thousands of stolen identities to open online gambling accounts and exploit new user incentives, which for several years allowed them to gamble with stolen money,” Sullivan said. “Their winning streak is now over.”Demeo said individuals responsible for identity theft on such a scale should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, adding that IRS Criminal Investigation remained focused on tracing complex financial transactions and money-laundering schemes.Cafferelli said the investigation began as a gaming-related inquiry but quickly expanded due to the scale of the alleged identity theft and fraud, which involved thousands of potential victims nationwide. He urged individuals who believe they may be victims of identity theft to report the matter through IdentityTheft.gov.The indictment charged Kapoor and Lillaney with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity fraud; 23 counts of wire fraud; eight counts of identity fraud; two counts of aggravated identity theft; one count of money laundering conspiracy; and 10 counts of money laundering. Several of the charges carry maximum prison sentences of up to 20 years, while the aggravated identity theft counts carry mandatory consecutive two-year prison terms.Federal prosecutors emphasised that an indictment is not evidence of guilt and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
