Three Defendants Indicted on Conspiracy in TJX Stores Fraud - 54 Counts

Defendants: Donald Ilo (DOB 08/06/63); Patrick Onogwu (DOB 06/10/56); Asanimo Riesa (DOB 03/07/82)

Nov. 5, 2020 -- Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced Donald Ilo, Patrick Onogwu, and Asanimo Riesa, all of the Bronx, were named in a 54-count indictment for their part in a scheme that included using fraudulently obtained credit cards to steal from several area TJX Companies, Inc. stores, including TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods.

Patrick Onogwu and Asanimo Riesa were arraigned in Westchester County Court before Judge David S. Zuckerman on Nov. 4, 2020. They were released from jail at the end of last year due to the bail reform law. Their next court date is Nov. 18, 2020. Donald Ilo was never arrested and there is a warrant out for him.

In total, the three men face 54 counts against them. All three defendants are charged with Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E Felony. Other charges in the indictment against individuals include:

  • Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony
  • Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E Felony
  • Identity Theft in the Second Degree: Assume Another’s Identity and Obtain Goods Worth Greater Than $500, a Class E Felony
  • Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in The Second Degree, a Class D Felony
  • Forgery in the Second Degree, a Class D Felony
  • Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, a misdemeanor
  • Identity Theft in the Third Degree: Assume Another’s Identity and Obtain Goods, a misdemeanor

Background
The indictment lays out the conspiracy carried out from June 13, 2018, through Aug. 14, 2019, which focused on a number of TJX Companies, Inc., stores, including TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and HomeSense, in Yorktown Heights, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Port Chester, Hartsdale, the Bronx and elsewhere.

The defendants, and other members and associates, both known and unknown to the Grand Jury, were parties to a conspiratorial agreement to work together to steal more than $50,000.00 from TJX. The defendants applied for and opened TJX Rewards credit cards by using victims’ personal identifying information, including Social Security numbers, forging victims’ signatures on credit applications, and presenting forged United States passport cards and driver’s licenses as identification.

The defendants then used these fraudulently obtained credit card accounts to purchase merchandise for which they never paid. Subsequently, the defendants returned some of the stolen merchandise to other TJX stores on different dates. When the returns were made, the defendants manipulated the refund procedure by obtaining the refund to a debit card, thereby effectively converting the stolen merchandise into cash. It was part of their conspiracy for defendants (1) to obtain the personal identifying information, including social security numbers, of victims, (2) to make or cause to have made forged United States passport cards and driver’s licenses bearing a defendant’s photo but the name and date of birth of a victim, (3) to complete handwritten TJX Rewards credit card applications using victims’ personal identifying information, including social security numbers, (4) to forge victims’ signatures on credit application customer verifications, (5) to obtain a TJX Rewards credit card account via a temporary shopping pass and use it to pay for merchandise in TJX stores, (6) to use victims’ personal identifying information, including social security numbers, to open checking accounts linked to debit cards, (7) to return merchandise at TJX stores using these debit cards, and (8) to withdraw the money received from the fraudulent returns from the checking accounts linked to the debit cards. The defendants travelled to TJX stores in Westchester County, in Bronx County, elsewhere in New York State, and other states to commit their fraud.

In the same case, defendants Hassan Miller (DOB 05/13/73) and Dawn Anderson (DOB 11/04/70) were sentenced in September to 1.5 to 4.5 years each in state prison after pleading guilty in November 2019 to Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a class D felony.

The investigation was led by the Westchester County Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State. The TJX Companies, Inc. were instrumental in the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Stefanie DeNise of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office’s Investigations Division Identity Theft Unit.

In compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.6, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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