Canadian man pleads guilty after prosecutors say he used sham companies to steal millions
A Canadian plan pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Las Vegas for stealing millions of dollars from the bank accounts of American citizens, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The defendant, 52-year-old Poupak Jannissar, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering charges, after prosecutors said he operated sham companies using fake checks and other mechanisms to debit victims’ bank accounts, according to a release by the Department of Justice.
Some of these sham companies included Computer Run, EBooks, Joreeb, Memo Storage, Our Online Backup, You Can Fax Too and Your E-Library. The release said that none of these companies provided any real product or service but hid the theft of money from bank accounts by Jannissar.
Court records show that while Jannissar pleaded guilty in court Monday before U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon, he did not take a plea agreement.
According to the release, Jannissar bought personal information belonging to victims. He would then tell banks that the victims had authorized debits from their bank accounts by the sham companies. The stolen money was then transferred into Canadian accounts.
“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment to finding and prosecuting individuals who steal from consumers,” said U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada. “Defrauding consumers and stealing their hard-earned dollars is a crime against the individuals but it also violates the trust we have in free commerce.”
Jannissar is scheduled to appear in court for a sentencing hearing on Nov. 6. He is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for both charges.
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com.