LEHI, Utah — A Utah man has been sentenced to 57 months in prison for his role in two criminal schemes. The U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced the sentencing Thursday.
Timothy Gibson, a 48-year-old from Lehi, Utah had previously pleaded guilty in federal court to Count One of a five-count indictment that charged him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the multi-million dollar credit card fraud scheme that occurred in New Jersey. He also plead guilt to making false statements to a bank as part of a scheme that took place in Utah.
According to prosecutors, Gibson and his conspirators solicited personal information from straw credit card applicants so the members of the conspiracy could submit falsified credit card applications to obtain credit cards. The cards were then used to make purchases that generated rewards points from the credit card company.
In general, purchases were made on the credit cards and were then canceled after the rewards points posted but before the credit card payments for the purchases were due.
The conspiracy involved more than 8,000 fraudulent accounts in the names of more than 1,500 straw cardholders that obtained more than 800 million reward points, which were worth more than $8 million.
Gibson was accused of soliciting straw credit card applicants by offering to purchase credit card offers the applicants received in the mail. They then asked the applicants to provide their personal identifying information. They used that to open numerous credit cards in the names of fictitious businesses created with falsified financial and employment information.
The cardholders would then send the credit card account information to Gibson and his partners in exchange for payment. "The conspirators added themselves to the credit card accounts as authorized users, and transferred rewards points to accounts they controlled. The conspirators cancelled the points-generating purchases before the credit card payment was due," the Justice Department would write in a release.
Charges remain pending against Aharon Lev, one of Gibson's co-conspirators, in New Jersey.
Gibson was also sentenced in a CARES Act scheme dating back to March of 2020. According to prosecutors, Gibson enrolled in the Small Business Association's "Paycheck Protection Program," a loan program designed to provide an incentive for small businesses to keep workers on payroll during the pandemic.
In May of 2020, Gibson falsely reported the number of employees and the average monthly payroll of a business that he was associated with in order to obtain a loan from the program. He also allegedly advised multiple businesses on how they could do the same.
Gibson was sentenced to 57 months in prison for his role in the two schemes. In addition to the prison term, he will also need to undergo three years of supervised released and ordered to pay restitution.
