The conspiracy caused more than $200 million in losses to businesses and financial institutions, authorities said.
Vinod Dadlani leaves federal court in Newark after being arraigned on credit card fraud on February 5, 2013. (Star-Ledger file photo)TRENTON -- A man who used his Jersey City jewelry store to create more than 7,000 false identities and fraudulently obtain tens of thousands of credit cards was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said Vinod Dadlani's scheme, for which he was indicted in October 2013, was one of the largest ever charged by the Justice Department and caused more than $200 million in losses to businesses and financial institutions.
Dadlani, of Lyndhurst, pleaded guilty in June 2014 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. His crime was part of a larger fraud operation in which a total of 19 people have admitted involvement, Fishman said.
According to case documents and statements made in court, the defendant created false identities by making fraudulent IDs and phony credit profiles with major credit bureaus. They then inflated that credit by submitting bogus information and borrowed or spent as much money as they could without repaying the debt.
Fishman said Dadlani, 53, admitted in court that he let conspirators who came to his jewelry store swipe cards he knew did not actually belong to them. Dadlani then split the proceeds of those transactions with the conspirators.
Dadlani's store was Tanishq Jewels on Newark Avenue, The Jersey Journal previously reported.
In addition to the prison time, U.S. Judge Anne Thompson also sentenced Dadlani to two years of supervised release and ordered him to forfeit $411,000.
Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.