MISSISSIPPI
An Iranian man was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in federal prison for access device fraud.
He also got an addition five years for conspiracy to commit identity theft and access device fraud in connection with an international scheme to sell credit card information, according to officials.
The sentences will be served concurrently or altogether.
Milad Kalantari, 32, was further ordered to pay $36.6 million in restitution.
As part of the scheme, Kalantari sold approximately 2.5 million stolen credit cards on his websites, with an intended loss amount valued at over $1.2 billion.
More than $35 million in actual losses have been confirmed with U.S. companies including more than $26 million in losses to Discover Card and almost $5 million in losses to American Express, according to officials.
Kalantari was arrested in December 2015, when he entered the United States at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
On Oct. 6, Kalantari plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit identity theft and access device fraud and one count of substantive access device fraud.
As part of the plea, Kalantari admitted that he was a member of a financial fraud conspiracy that owned and operated numerous websites, in Kalantari’s name.
It was dedicated to the distribution and sale of stolen credit and debit card information belonging to victims all over the world – including citizens and banks located throughout the United States.