News
Doug Havard jailed for 6 years over identity theft crimes
Posted on June 28, 2005

Police reckon Havard stole over £750,000 during the 10-month period of the investigation but estimate he could have raked in as much as £6.5m over two years.

Douglas Cade Havard, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested in Leeds, England, on June 4, 2004, by the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) and the West Yorkshire police. At the time, Havard was charged with possession of an illegal firearm, carrying a phony Spanish passport and possession of 17,700 euros in counterfeit traveler's checks.

Upon his arrest, police found forged travellers' cheques, financial documents relating to 10 bank compromised bank accounts, and equipment for creating false identities, as well as evidence that he was being assisted by a second man, British citizen Lee Elwood.

Elwood, who is 25 and based in Glasgow, was arrested a few days later and charged with conspiracy to defraud after police found a large quantity of forged bank documents, credit card holograms, computer, as well as a cache of credit card counterfeiting equipment.

Havard and Elwood were moderators on the Cardplanet and Shadowcrew Web sites, which gave them the ability to monitor, approve and post articles to newsgroups. Once the suspects contacted each other over the Internet, they exchanged stolen information and counterfeit documents, authorities said.

Douglas Cade Havard was salutatorian, senior class president and co-captain of the football team at The Winston School. In his semi-secret life, he was arrested for armed robbery and allegedly ran credit-card scams. (Source: Dallas Observer)

Havard confessed to receiving data dumps of compromised account details from criminal associates in Russia. This information was used to pay for goods online, sold in auctions by criminal affiliates in the UK. Havard and Elwood and their UK allies would take a cut before forwarding the balance back to Russia.

Havard was sentenced on Monday at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud and launder money for his role in a conspiracy with Russian crime syndicates. Harvard was given six years in prison. Elwood was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to the same offences in June 2004.

The court heard the duo were integral to a phishing scam that netted an estimated £6.5 million. The duo operated the UK end of an international operation that tricked consumers into handing over their banking credentials to bogus websites. The pair used credit cards obtained under false names, money raided from compromised bank accounts and the illicit purchase and sale of goods online to finance a lavish lifestyle.

Their criminality was exposed during a National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) investigation into eastern European phishing fraudsters.

The United States Secret Service and the FBI were also involved in the investigation.

Mick Deat, deputy head of the NHTCU, said in a statement: "We are particularly grateful for the assistance provided by our counterparts within the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI for their close co-operation in connection with this investigation. We hope that these sentences deliver a tough message to anybody either thinking about or actually using other people's identities to steal."

Now, Havard faces extradition to the United States.

In Dallas and Collin counties, Havard faces charges of drug dealing, counterfeiting and aggravated robbery. The former student at the Winston School and Southern Methodist University fled the United States in 2002 while facing the charges, which could mean life in prison.

From fake IDs to guns, Ecstasy and GHB, Doug Havard was one-stop shopping for Dallas' spoiled rich kids.

Havard had first gotten involved in illegal schemes while enrolled at the exclusive Winston School in North Dallas. He sold drugs, guns and stolen electronics and engaged in inventive credit card frauds--all while making $60,000 to $80,000 a year working for his father, says The Dallas Observer.

On February 2, 2001, police allege, Havard and two buddies--wielding guns and wearing body armor--crept into the Richardson condo of a drug dealer named Pee Wee who'd stiffed them with fake Ecstasy. They surprised Pee Wee in bed. When he didn't hand over their cash, one of Havard's associates pistol-whipped him. Havard, calling the shots, put a stop to the beating and sent his buddy to their car for duct tape, saying they'd "torture" Pee Wee until he paid up. But, after seeing police drive up, the buddy fled, leaving Havard and his other associate to be arrested.

Mark Monroe, manager of Delta Bail Bonds and president of the Dallas County Bail Bonds Association, remembers when a humbled Havard paid $10,000 to make bond on the charge of aggravated robbery.

Unlike most runners, Havard didn't leave behind a pissed-off bondsman.

"I got no reason to look for him," Monroe says. "His daddy's wealthy enough to pay me off." Monroe says that Cade Havard paid off the $90,000 Delta was out when his son skipped town.

In the weeks after it became obvious that Havard didn't intend to face trial on his various charges--guilty verdicts on any of them likely would have resulted in jail time--federal marshals talked to him about Havard, Monroe says. "The feds were looking for him. His little fake-I.D. shop got their attention. Everybody was looking for him."

The Dallas Observer has plenty of details on the scammer's life history:

Crazy White Mother
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2002-12-26/news/feature.html

The Devil Next Door
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-10-21/news/feature.html
SOURCE: The Register; The Dallas Observer