Boca Raton Resident Charged with Mail Fraud in Corporate Identity Theft Scheme
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that defendant Rogerio Chaves Scotton, a.k.a. Roger Scotton, of Boca Raton, Florida, was charged in a twenty-six count indictment with mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. He was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
More specifically, the indictment alleges that Scotton, a Brazilian national, offered merchandise for sale through his internet websites, including Brazil Express Import and Export and Sky Air Express. In the websites, the defendant offered to ship the merchandise to Brazil and elsewhere at favorable shipping rates. Scotton was able to offer lower shipping rates than his competitors because he fraudulently established new shipping accounts and/or subaccounts with various different shipping companies, using the identity of existing corporations, such as Target, Apple Computers, and Walmart. Scotton used these fraudulently obtained corporate accounts to ship thousands of packages throughout the United States and Brazil for his customers. When the shipping companies discovered the fraudulent accounts created and used by Scotton, the shipping companies would credit the respective account of the legitimate corporate account owner. As a result, the shipping companies suffered multi-million dollar losses because of Scotton’s activities.
If convicted, Scotton faces a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of up to twenty years for each count of mail fraud.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bertha R. Mitrani.
An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
