In a Vista courtroom Monday, Romano’s Jewelers owner Ramil Abalkhad was sentenced to three years probation and 250 hours of community service for identity theft charges associated with a 2012 U.S Marine Corps criminal investigation.
According to the original criminal complaint, between 2010 and 2012, Abalkhad instructed jewelry store manager Carlos Torres and employee Nellie Cha Noland Torres to obtain the personal financial information of Marine customers and then add unauthorized charges on their store credit accounts.
In November 2016, Abalkhad pleaded guilty to felony charges that included conspiracy to commit identity theft and identity theft with intent to defraud and theft by false pretenses. As part of his plea agreement, Abalkhad paid $55,000 in restitution payments before Monday’s court hearing avoiding serving time behind bars, according to San Diego Deputy District Attorney Gina Darvas. The money, she said, will be distributed to at least 70 victims impacted by the identity theft.
In court Monday, the judge said since Abalkhad paid the restitution payments in full, Abalkhad would not be sentenced to time in prison. According to Darvas, if Abalkhad does not complete the terms of his probation he could then face time behind bars.
Torres and Noland pleaded guilty in the case last year and agreed to be cooperating witnesses against Abalkhad.
Both of them will be sentenced on March 16.
Abalkhad did not comment to NBC 7 Investigates about his sentence.
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Click here to see the all of NBC 7 Investigates stories, in the series, “Jewelry Store Under Fire.”
According to the original 2012 Marine Corps investigation, a Marine at the time provided personal financial information belonging to military members to the jewelry store in exchange for money, jewelry and a clean balance on his Romano’s store credit account.
Active military members have an account called Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS) MyPay. It is similar to a bank account and can be directly connected to other financial or loan accounts allowing the military member to have money withdrawn from the account to pay bills. Those automatic pay deduction to pay off loans are called allotments.
According to the complaint, the Romano’s employees would provide the former marine, Kymani Tate, with Social Security Numbers of military members who had store credit accounts with Romano’s. Tate would then find the corresponding DFAS MyPay accounts associated with those numbers and reset the passwords or pins. With the new pins, the Romano’s employees could gain access to the MyPay accounts and add unauthorized charges.
Abalkhad told Noland she would receive $10 for each MyPay account password she was able to reset, according to the complaint.
Noland then made a deal with Tate. According to the complaint, she offered to pay Tate $25 to reset MyPay account passwords on the accounts of active duty military members who were customers.
The complaint alleges how the employees and Tate would communicate through emails to exchange the personal information.
Tate was dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps. When NBC 7 Investigates reached out to Tate last year, he sent the following statement: “I would only like to say I am deeply apologetic to the Marines and sailors who have been hurt by this. I never meant for anything so wrong to happen. Tell Marines to be careful who they give info to. Stores like Romano's target Marines. I just want to apologize to everyone involved and my chain of command. I paid my debt to the Corps and lost my dream career. I do however have remorse for Marines and sailors that got unknowingly involved."
NBC 7 Investigates first began looking at Romano’s business practices in November 2014.
Click here to see the all of NBC 7 Investigates stories, in the series, “Jewelry Store Under Fire.”
After receiving numerous reports from military members nationwide that Romano’s Jewelers took advantage of them, NBC 7 Investigates looked into U.S. Marine Jacob Helmuth’s purchase of a necklace. Romano’s Jewelers calls it the “Mother’s Medal of Honor.”
The price tag of more than $2,300 for the necklace and a watch raised a red flag. After sifting through purchase details, NBC 7 Investigates discovered there wasn’t much of a paper trail.
“They didn’t show me the percentage rate,” Helmuth told Nguyen. He was referring to the 29.9 percent interest rate included in his payment plan.
Click here to see that NBC 7 Investigates original story.
As a result of the NBC 7 Investigates story, the U.S. Navy warned all its sailors in the San Diego region about the company.
Several Romano’s Jewelers locations across Southern California, including three in San Diego County, closed or were in the process of shutting down last year, according to the business’ Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee. Four stores in the Los Angeles area are still opened, according to the company’s website.
