EVANSVILLE - Yapo Jean Franck Ngbichi, 41, of Georgia, has been sentenced to 54 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to use of unauthorized access devices.According to court documents, between December 2017 and September 2019, Ngbichi used 318 different stolen credit card numbers to purchase gift cards at Lowe’s Home Improvement stores in 28 states, including Indiana. Ngbichi conducted over 1,363 fraudulent transactions using the stolen credit card numbers, thereby causing a loss of $587,626.On two separate occasions, Ngbichi used stolen credit card numbers to purchase four Visa gift cards valued at $200 each from Lowe’s stores located in Evansville, Indiana.After obtaining a search warrant for Ngbichi’ s laptop, law enforcement discovered documents titled, “Everything You Wanted to Know About Instore Carding,” “Basic Mistakes That Lead to People Getting Arrested from Darknet—Free,” as well as numerous chat threads related to credit card numbers, several email fragments containing credit card numbers, and even Internet search history that included searches for “which embosser is best,” “federal charges stolen gift cards,” “federal criminal possession of forged instrument,” “possession of counterfeit credit card,” and “how long after a crime can you be charged.”At the time of arrest, Ngbichi had a previous similar conviction in state court. In May 2018, Ngbichi was convicted in Scott County, Kentucky for attempted false making/embossing of a credit card/debit card and attempted criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Man holding credit card shopping via laptop; image by rupixen.com, via Unsplash.com.

“Every year, American lose billions of dollars to identity theft and fraud. This defendant alone stole nearly half a million dollars and is responsible for more than 1,300 fraudulent transactions,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Frauds such as these have lasting impacts on victim individuals and businesses. The serious federal prison sentence imposed here is a warning to others considering these schemes—the FBI, Secret Service, and U.S. Attorney’s Office are committed to unraveling financial crimes and holding fraudsters accountable.”“The defendant wreaked havoc on the lives of those he perpetrated this financial fraud against, leaving them to pick up the pieces,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton. “This case highlights the strong relationships we have with our law enforcement partners in diligently pursuing those who take advantage of others through their criminal behavior.”The FBI and United States Secret Service investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young. Judge Young also ordered that Ngbichi be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 3 years following his release from federal prison and pay $587,623.91 in restitution.U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorney Matthew B. Miller, who prosecuted this case.