Investigations

On August 30, 2021, Kevin Nelson pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to aggravated identity theft. On March 15, 2019, Nelson was indicted for the same charge, in addition to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and access device fraud, and access device fraud. The indictment alleged that from April 2016 through July 2018, Nelson and others engaged in a scheme to defraud Amtrak and the general public by using unauthorized or stolen credit card numbers to make train reservations on Amtrak’s ticketing system. They then canceled or exchanged the reservations for transferable eVouchers, which they sold online at a discounted rate.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations and Amtrak-OIG.