Brothers Convicted in Fraudulent Credit Card Scheme

United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that long-haul truck drivers Fredrik Abulyan, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Armenak Abulyan, of Glendale, California, each face up to 40 years in federal prison after a jury in Midland found them guilty yesterday afternoon of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, possess credit card making equipment and two substantive counts of credit card fraud.

During trial, evidence presented by the government showed that the Abulyan brothers engaged in a conspiracy to commit credit card fraud by obtaining people’s credit card or debit card account information and then programming “Coffee Bean” gift cards with that information. The Abulyan brothers then utilized those counterfeit credit cards to purchase, among other things, diesel fuel from numerous Flying J truck stops across the country, including one in Midland on Interstate 20. The two Midland purchases–substantive credit card fraud counts charged in the indictment–occurred on July 4, 2008, and September 15, 2008.

The Abulyan brothers made fraudulent purchases in many states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. The conspiracy affected at least 20 credit card victims and resulted in a loss of over $40,000.

Sentencing for the defendants, who remain in federal custody, is scheduled for 9:30am on April 16, 2009, before United States District Judge Robert Junell.

The case was investigated by the Midland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in connection with the Midland County Sheriff’s Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Austin Berry.