Rasheed Babatunde Kayode of Houston was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison following convictions for mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and fraud in the procurement of naturalized U.S. citizenship.
On May 12, 2008, U.S. Postal Inspectors discovered numerous items and documents in his home:
A large amount of additional credit cards still inside their mailing envelope were found in addition to more than 150 credit cards in names other then the defendant that were hidden in different areas, such as in the pockets of clothes and in the closet. Authorities also seized hundreds of credit reports for various individuals that contained names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of the victims as well as several hundred letters, credit card pre-approvals, bank statements, credit card statements and other mail in names other then the defendant.
Authorities believe Kayode was purchasing stolen mail and credit reports from others and using the information contained in them to apply for credit cards in the names of others. The fraudulently obtained cards were then used to obtain cash advances and merchandise.
This case was investigated by inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay Hileman.
Source: Press Release, The United States Attorney’s Office – Southern District of Texas, May 29 2009