http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118973246548127272.html By Joseph Pereira The Wall Street Journal September 14, 2007 Irving Escobar, a ring leader in a TJX Cos.-linked credit-card fraud, was sentenced to five years in prison and has been ordered to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution for damages resulting from stolen financial information, Florida officials said. The sentencing follows a guilty plea by Mr. Escobar, 19 years old, of Miami, to charges that he participated in a 10-person operation that used counterfeit cards bearing the stolen credit-card data of hundreds of TJX customers to purchase approximately $3 million in goods and gift cards. The penalty is the stiffest handed down so far in the case. The thefts were carried out at a string of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in Florida during the second half of 2006, authorities said. Some of the merchandise was bought with gift cards that had previously been purchased with the fraudulent credit cards, a modern-day version of money laundering, officials said. In addition to Mr. Escobar, police arrested five others in March in connection with the scheme. Four have pled guilty to similar charges and were sentenced to probation in August. A fifth defendant, Mr. Escobar's mother, Nair Alvarez, who also pled guilty, was deported to Venezuela for lack of proper immigration papers. In January, TJX, Framingham, Mass., reported that hackers broke into its computer system used to manage credit- and debit-card transactions as well as checks and merchandise returns. Though the defendants were found in possession of credit card numbers belonging to TJX customers, investigators believe other criminals are responsible for hacking into TJX's computer systems. Copyright 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. ___________________________________________________________ CSI 2007 is the only conference and exhibition that delivers a business focused overview of enterprise security. It will convene 1,500+ delegates, 80 exhibitors and features 100+ sessions providing a roadmap for integrating policies and procedures with new tools and techniques. Eleven topic themes cover everything from awareness to compliance & risk to wireless, and focus on the management and strategic issues crucial to developing a comprehensive organization protection program. CSI 2007 is the must-attend event for today's security professionals who want to keep current with solutions and meet the security challenges of 2008. Register now for savings on conference fees and/or free exhibits admission. www.csiannual.com
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