Crime & Safety

FBI Makes Identity Theft Arrest in Syosset

Naresh Sondhi was taken into custody Tuesday.

A Syosset resident was arrested Tuesday morning as part of a multi-count federal complaint concerning identity theft.

A tipster told Syosset Patch that about 10 FBI officials were gathered at the Dunkin' Donuts location next to the Long Island Rail Road station Tuesday morning just before 6 a.m.

Those special agents took Naresh Sondhi into custody, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. It's unclear exactly where and when the arrest was made, although it did take place in Syosset.

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According to the complaint ringleader Abdul Nadeem Khan and co-conspirators Nabeel Rana (aka Nabeel Mohammed Butt), Iftikhar Ali Rizvi (aka Billa Bronx), Samin Saqib (aka Raja), Ali Shabbir, Neil Kisson, Shahid Bhatti and Sondhi were charged.

The government alleges that Khan has led an identify theft ring out of Jackson Heights, Queens, since last February. He used an apartment there as a shipping address for goods fraudulently purchased with credit cards obtained by Khan and others.

Find out what's happening in Syossetwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The complaint adds that Sondhi used the credit card terminal at the cell phone store he owns in Jackson Heights to charge fraudulently obtained credit cards. 

According to bank and merchant records, from February to June the defendants engaged in at least $150,000 in fraudulent transactions involving three separate victims.


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