A multi-million dollar fraudulent scheme targeting FanDuel and other sportsbooks has led to the indictment of two individuals in the United States.
Law enforcement authorities in Connecticut indicted and arrested two people last week for their alleged role in defrauding FanDuel and others of more than $3 million through the use of stolen identities.
The 45-count indictment charges Amitoj Kapoor and Siddharth Lillaney with fraud, identity theft, and money laundering offenses.
It is alleged that Kapoor and Lillaney used the dark web and messaging platform Telegram to acquire approximately 3,000 stolen identities that were then used to open online gambling accounts and secure promotional bonuses, primarily at FanDuel.
The pair are also said to have maintained accounts at websites such as BeenVerified.com and TruthFinder.com to obtain additional background information on identity theft victims, with this information then used to answer verification questions when signing up for the gambling accounts.
The indictment states that when Kapoor and Lillaney won a bet using a bonus, the winnings were transferred to a virtual stored value card which FanDuel allowed account holders to use. They then transferred the proceeds from the stored value cards to bank accounts and investments accounts they controlled.
Kapoor and Lillaney are alleged to have generated around $3 million from the scheme which began in 2021.
“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,” said David Sullivan, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
“Their winning streak is now over. I thank our partners with IRS-Criminal Investigation and Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection for their extraordinary investigative efforts, and for continuing to work diligently to identify all who have been victimized by this criminal conduct.”
Thomas Demeo, special agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, added: “Individuals who commit identity theft of this magnitude deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. It’s alleged those charged caused immeasurable hardship to the victims of their identity theft scheme. IRS Criminal Investigation remains committed to unraveling complex financial transactions and money laundering schemes where criminals attempt to conceal the true source of their money.”
Kapoor and Lillaney were arrested on Friday (Feb. 6) and were each released on a $300,000 bond.