Cellular phone prepaid verizon wireless

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)—A former Verizon Wireless employee was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges he stole more than $20 million from the company's prepaid cellular telephone service.

Timothy Charles Mattos, 32, of Folsom, was indicted on 10 fraud and money laundering counts. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

As a customer service representative, Mattos had access to a password-protected Verizon computer account in which the company kept a record of prepaid cell phone minutes.

Customers on the plan could buy cards on which were printed 15-digit personal identification numbers. They would then call a telephone number to activate the prepaid minutes to make a telephone call.

Mattos is alleged to have copied more than $20 million worth of the 15-digit numbers and sold them on his own between November 2002 and March. He continued accessing the Web site and copying the numbers even after he left the company in November 2003, the charges allege.

He also is named in a federal lawsuit filed by Verizon in New Jersey against Direct Wholesale Inc. and others. The attorney representing Mattos in that suit, Gerald Saluti, also is temporarily representing Mattos on the criminal charges. He could not be reached after business hours Thursday evening.

Mattos faces three counts of fraud in connection with computers, each carrying a maximum five-year prison penalty; five counts of money laundering each carrying a maximum 20-year sentence; and one count of fraud in connection with access devices, which has a 10-year maximum sentence. The 10th count of the indictment seeks to seize property that Mattos allegedly purchased with the money.

Verizon Wireless, based in Bedminster, N.J., is a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Britain's Vodafone Group.

Copyright ?? 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in eWEEK.