SCHEME TO DEFRAUD AMTRAK RESULTS IN GUILTY PLEA AND FORFEITURE

Christian Newby, 31, of Milan, Michigan, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Michigan to charges of wire fraud, unlawful possession of a firearm by a drug user, and aggravated identity theft on August 14, 2019. As part of the plea agreement, Newby agreed to a forfeiture amount of $550,000, and to forfeit jewelry, gold and silver coins, and various weapons and ammunition.

Our investigation disclosed that Newby participated in a scheme to defraud Amtrak and others by using stolen credit card information from more than 1100 credit cards to purchase Amtrak tickets online. Newby then cancelled the Amtrak tickets and received vouchers for the value of those tickets from Amtrak. Newby sold the Amtrak vouchers on eBay at a fraction of their face value. As a result, Newby fraudulently caused Amtrak to issue more than $540,000 in ticket vouchers.

Newby was arrested on January 31, 2019, and a search warrant was executed at Newby’s residence. The search resulted in the seizure of cash, jewelry, gold and silver coins, counterfeit identification and credit cards, semi-automatic weapons with high-capacity magazines, armor piercing ammunition, and numerous pipe bombs and improvised explosive devices.
Newby will be sentenced at a future date.