GLADSTONE, Mo. — A 45-year-old Gladstone man pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court on Thursday in what the U.S. Attorney’s office called a computer hacking and identity theft scheme.
Vince Evola, 45, admitted to hacking the computers and websites of several businesses in order to access personal, financial information of their customers obtained during online purchases.
Four other people, who have already been sentenced, participated in the three-year-long scheme. They include Evola’s ex-wife, Kimberly Evola, 45, of Gladstone; his sisters, Carrie Evola, 46 of Gladstone and Rosemary Evola, 42, of Overland Park, Kan. and Sael Mustafa, 35, a citizen of Jordan who lived in Gladstone.
The U.S. Attorney said Mustafa was the mastermind of the operation, which relied on his victims using the same password for the hacked accounts that they used for their online credit card accounts.
By trial and error, he tested the stolen identity information to see if the passwords worked on their credit card accounts. If the passwords matched, he was able to access their credit card accounts and make purchases.
The U.S. Attorney of Western Missouri said the conspirators purchased more than $240,000 worth of airline tickets, more than $30,000 in gift cards, and purchased or attempted to purchase more than $344,000 in wire transfers.
Under federal statutes, Evola is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Mustafa was sentenced on July 8, 2011, to 10 years in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay restitution to his victims.
