March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 49 F

Former Annapolis waiter accepts plea deal in credit card fraud scheme

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credit cardsA former waiter at an Annapolis restaurant, Andrew Anamanya, age 25, of Glen Dale, Maryland pleaded guilty today in connection with his role in stealing customers’ credit card information, as part of a conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge James Murray of the United States Secret Service – Washington Field Office; Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Chief Murray “Jay” Farr of the Arlington County, Virginia Police Department.

According to Anamanya’s plea agreement, while working as a waiter at an Annapolis restaurant, Anamanya was approached by two co-conspirators and agreed to use a credit card reading device, known as a “skimmer,” to steal credit and debit card information.  The co-conspirators supplied Anamanya with the skimmer and when Anamanya’s customers paid their bills using credit or debit cards, Anamanya secretly swiped their cards through the skimmer. A few days later, Anamanya met with his co-conspirators and gave them the skimmer he had used in return for another skimmer.  From July through October 2009, Anamanya repeated this process, compromising the credit card information of approximately 12 individuals.  One of the co-conspirators transferred the data from the skimmer onto a laptop computer and then re-encoded the information onto other debit cards.  Those fraudulently re-encoded cards were then used to make purchases at retail stores in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and Delaware.

The total loss reasonably attributable to Anamanya’s conduct was $10,153.81.  Four other co-conspirators have pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and are awaiting sentencing.  A sixth defendant is scheduled to go to trial on November 17, 2015.

Anamanya faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte has scheduled sentencing for March 30, 2016, at 9:30 a.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the U.S. Secret Service, Prince George’s County Police Department, Maryland State Police, and the Arlington County, Virginia Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan E. Foreman, who is prosecuting the case.

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