A restaurant worker has allegedly masterminded the largest theft of identities in Internet history and is suspected of stealing millions of dollars from some of the richest people in America.
Mr Abraham Abdallah (32) is accused of duping more than 200 chief executive officers listed in Forbes magazine, by skillfully using computers in Brooklyn libraries to obtain credit records of such luminaries as Microsoft co-founder Mr Paul Allen, director Mr Steven Spielberg and CNN founder Mr Ted Turner.
Mr Abdallah was originally indicted in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn earlier this month on a series of fraud and impersonation charges but the case has been taken over by federal authorities.
Police said they arrested the waiter on February 23rd after pursuing him for six months as he insulated himself from detection by using Web-enabled mobile phones, virtual voice mail and other elusive tactics.
"He was everywhere, pretending to be everyone, when he was really in New York, sometimes working in a restaurant kitchen," one police source was quoted as saying in today's New York Post, which first reported the alleged crimes.
Police allege that Mr Abdallah breached the bank, brokerage and credit card accounts of tycoons and celebrities such as Spielberg, Mr Turner, Mr Allen and financiers Mr George Soros and Mr Warren Buffett, the fourth richest man in the world. Other victims included Disney CEO Mr Michael Eisner, media mogul Ms Oprah Winfrey and Viacom CEO Mr Sumner Redstone.
The New York State criminal court indictment said detectives recovered from Mr Abdallah documents containing the photographs, social security numbers, dates of birth and home addresses of more than two hundred chief executive officers of Fortune-500-listed corporations, more than four hundred assorted (credit card) numbers with the associated subscriber's addresses and personal information.