Russian Con Artist Pleads Guilty in ID Theft Scam

A Russian con artist was sentenced to 3½ to 10½ years in prison for allegedly stealing about $1.5 million from victims chosen off the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Igor Klopov, age 25, ran his operations in Moscow, from home. This is where he would surf the internet in search of worthy victims such as President George W. Bush's friend and Texas billionaire. Charles J. Wyly Jr.

Klopov's would usually target people from the state of California and the state of Texas, due to the fact that their property-deed information is easily available on the internet, giving him access to information such as mortgages sizes, credit lines and property values. Klopov would use the online information to imitate his marks and ransack the victims accounts.

Igor Klopov was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to charges of grand larceny and identity theft in February. Klopov divulged all about his part in the organizing and running of an Internet identity theft ring that targeted wealthy U.S. citizens. His part in the malicious dealings involved compiling a complete identity report containing information such as birth certificates, blank checks and driver's licenses.

Klopov was finally caught out when attempting to claim $7 million in gold from the home-equity credit of Charles Wyly Jr. This was a result of a year long investigation undertaken by federal law enforcement agencies, where an undercover cop assumed the online identity of Klopov's partner in crime. Investigators coned Klopov into believing that the$7 million in gold was bought with money stolen from Wyly.

Klopov's four accomplices were later arrested and eventually also pleaded guilty. One of the accomplices received a jail sentence of one year in jail, the other got six months and the third one was given a conditional discharge. The fourth is still to be sentenced in December. Klopov assured Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro that he will change his personality, to which the judge responded, "I hope you're sincere about that."