The FBI on Thursday announced a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of a member of a Baja California-based crime ring that stole banking information from servers belonging to a U.S. mortgage broker.
In July, a grand jury in San Diego indicted John Gordon Baden, 38, on charges of hacking, wire fraud and conspiracy.
Baden and several accomplices are suspected of stealing the identities of about 40,000 people and using the data to siphon funds from the victims’ brokerage or bank accounts.
Along with accused co-conspirators Jason Ray Bailey and Victor Alejandro Fernandez, Baden allegedly stole mortgage applications that included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, assets, tax information and driver’s-license numbers by hacking into company servers.
The Baja California-based criminal enterprise allegedly victimized people across the United States, federal agents said.
Between July 2011 and August 2013, Baden, Bailey and Fernandez allegedly engaged in a scheme whereby they would obtain and share log-in credentials that enabled them to gain unauthorized access to the targeted mortgage brokerage’s customer records and the computer application it used to manage them, according to the indictment.
They allegedly then used log-in credentials to get customer records and steal personal information.
FBI agents arrested Bailey and Fernandez in February. They remain in federal custody.
Investigators believe Baden, known to enjoy gambling and playing bingo, may be in Tijuana, possibly in the Zona Centro or Zona Norte. He was described as white, about 5 feet 8 inches and 195 pounds, with light-brown hair and hazel eyes.
Anyone with more information as to Baden’s whereabouts was urged to call the FBI at (858) 320-1800 or contact the agency online at tips.fbi.gov.
— City News Service
