1. Defendant Richard Pinedo (defendant) is a California resident who, from approximately 2014 through December 2017, provided online services designed to circumvent the security features of online payment processors, to include selling bank account numbers without authorization from the account holders.
2. Discussions between the government and the defendant have culminated in a proposed plea agreement, under which the defendant will plead guilty to an Information charging him with identify fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). The agreement incorporates a statement of the offense setting forth the factual basis for the guilty plea, which explains that the charge and accompanying plea are based on the defendant’s having sold bank account numbers without authorization from the account holders to individuals, some of whom were located outside the United States. Some of these individuals used the unauthorized bank account numbers obtained from the defendant to circumvent the security measures of online payment processors. A copy of the signed plea agreement and statement of the offense are attached as Exhibit A.
3. The government recognizes that its investigation is the focus of intense public interest. As explained in the declaration of Supervisory Special Agent Francesco H. Corral (attached as Exhibit B), however, public disclosure of the defendant’s guilty plea at this time could significantly compromise the government’s ongoing investigation.
4. The defendant’s guilty plea, if accepted, will result in the first criminal conviction arising from a particular facet of the Special Counsel’s investigation, namely, a Russian-backed operation that used social media platforms, through fraud and deceit, to interfere with the U.S. political system, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The investigation is ongoing and includes pursuing leads from information related to the defendant’s customers and their conspirators, some of whom are subjects and targets of the ongoing investigation.
