Sands Point men accused of identity theft

Two Sands Point men were charged Thursday with running a sophisticated identity-theft ring that took in up to $75,000 a week using stolen medical records, federal prosecutors said.

Monish Patel, 27, and Rohit Gulati, 25, both of 9 Knoll Rd., were arrested at home by Secret Service agents on charges of conspiracy, identity theft and mail fraud, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Bode and court documents.

Patel and Gulati used information from medical records of people processed by Gulati's father's medical-billing company, DGI in New Hyde Park, to apply for American Express cards, Bode said. Neither Gulati's father nor his company were accused of wrongdoing.

Patel and Gulati then used the cards to buy thousands of dollars worth of gold and Apple computer gift certificates, Bode said in federal court in Central Islip.

They also used skillfully forged New York State driver's licenses for identification when making the purchases, Bode said. The forged drivers' licenses had the real information of the people whose medical records had been stolen, but contained pictures of individuals paid by Patel and Gulati to buy the gold or the gift certificates, Bode said.

The forged drivers' licenses were so skillful that an investigator for the state DMV thought they were real until a record check showed their identification numbers did not exist, Bode said.

Other aspects also were very "sophisticated," Bode said.

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Patel and Gulati figured out American Express processing and post office delivery schedules and knew when cards would be delivered to the homes of people whose information was used, Bode said.

The two then broke into the mailboxes of those people and stole the cards, Bode said.

Gulati's father, Deepak Gulati, was in court Thursday but declined to comment. His son's attorney, Tracey Gaffey, declined to comment, as did Patel's attorney, John Maccarone.

Patel and Gulati were held without bail at arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson.