Originally published April 20 2005
Milwaukee resident guilty of credit card fraud worth more than $1.1 million
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Lee S. Dagostini, a resident of Milwaukee, was arrested and has pled guilty to credit card fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. The 45-year old man’s illegal operations were discovered by the police during an unrelated criminal investigation inside Dagostini’s suite at Barstow St. Authorities believe Dagostini was able to accumulate $1.1 million worth of illegal credit card transactions.
Dagostini is believed to have defrauded several credit card firms out of more than $1.1 million.
Tenants notified police they heard noises in the building and believed there was a burglar inside, according to the criminal complaint in federal court in Milwaukee.
Police searched the building but did not locate a burglar.
Officers then contacted the owner of the building who gave them a key to Dagostini's suite as police heard noises coming from those offices and suspected the burglar may be inside hiding.
While police did not find a burglar, they did come across enough evidence to implicate Dagostini in a large credit card fraud scam including numerous credit cards, bank statements in various names, and pamphlets dealing with how to commit identity theft and where to obtain fake IDs, the complaint said.
That paper contained information on Web sites at which replica documents such as Social Security cards, birth certificates and driver's licenses could be obtained.
A safe in one of the suites contained more than $35,000 in cash and a stack of fraudulent identification papers and documents in various names, most of which bore Dagostini's picture.
Dagostini used false identities to obtain credit cards and used the cards to make purchases, obtain cash advances and write convenience checks off those cards.
Dagostini would deposit some of the convenience checks into bank accounts he opened using fake identities.
Dagostini owns several pieces of real estate including a duplex and house in Waukesha.
Six personal bank accounts and one business bank account showed he had a balance over $84,000, the complaint said.
"Thus, his reported income would appear to barely cover living expenses for himself, his wife and four children, and would appear to be inconsistent with the real estate properties and bank account cash balances he has accumulated," the complaint said.
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