Six Co-Conspirators Plead Guilty to Hacking and Retail Financing Fraud

RICHMOND, Va. – Six individuals pleaded guilty today to taking part in a conspiracy to defraud several retail financing providers in various ways, including computer hacking. 

According to court documents, Mahmoud Aljibawi, 39, of Oak Forest, Illinois; Alaelddin Aljibawi, 36, of Orland Park, Illinois; Mohammad Jibawi, 27, of Tinley Park, Illinois; Wael Jibawi, 27, of Palos Heights, Illinois; Jamel Eljebawe, 48, of Tinley Park, Illinois; and Yanal Khrisat, 27, of Burbank, Illinois, conspired to defraud at least five retail financing providers of at least $1.6 million between April 2017 and January 2022. During that period, the defendants opened and maintained several retail furniture stores in and around the Chicago area, which they used to establish merchant relationships with the targeted financing providers. These relationships enabled defendants to submit financing applications in the names of customers. Instead, the defendants submitted applications in the names of identity theft victims then used the approved accounts to charge the financing providers for purchases that did not actually occur. Additionally, in February 2018, the defendants used social engineering to gain access to merchant accounts belonging to other businesses and change the bank accounts designated to receive payments owed those businesses by one retail financing provider. The defendants then submitted the affected businesses’ customer accounts for funding, causing the financing provider to deposit money that the defendants were not actually owed into accounts that they had opened and controlled. The defendants pleaded guilty today to the following offenses. 

When sentenced, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge David J. Novak accepted the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kaitlin G. Cooke and Carla Jordan-Detamore are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:21-cr-141.