"Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging Eliahou Paldiel and Carlos Arturo Suarez Palacios (Suarez) with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies relating to a wide-ranging scheme in which the defendants sold hacked smartphones and fraudulent applications to more than 800 rideshare drivers (Driver Co-conspirators). The applications enabled the Driver Co-conspirators to “spoof” GPS locations to fraudulently obtain “surge” fees and to otherwise manipulate legitimate rideshare applications to enrich themselves to the detriment of riders, law-abiding drivers and rideshare companies. If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison on each of the two counts."