Sacto 9-1-1
February 20, 2013
Citrus Heights man accused of credit card scam

A Citrus Heights man was arrested today, accused of participating in a credit card fraud scheme and money laundering activities.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento on Thursday returned a 36-count indictment against Oganes Serobyan, 40. The indictment was unsealed after his arrest today. He is to be arraigned Friday, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.

According to the indictment, in November 2009, Serobyan established a sham business, Link & Work Holdings LLC, which purported to sell "e-books" online. Between November 2010 and May 2011, the company is alleged to have unlawfully obtained American Express charge card numbers and made tens of thousands of unauthorized charges on them that were ultimately credited to Link & Work Holdings' bank account.

More than 26,000 American Express account numbers were unlawfully charged during the scheme. At least $390,000 fraudulent charges were attempted, resulting in the Link & Work Holdings account receiving at least $270,000 from American Express, according to the indictment.

Many customers complained abut the unauthorized transactions, and American Express closed Link & Work Holdings' merchant account.

The indictment alleges that Serobyan subsequently withdrew the money from the company's bank account in amounts designed to avoid federal currency reporting requirements.

The case resulted from an investigation by the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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