2023-01-06 DOJ SDNY press_release 117 KB 4,521 chars

Italian Citizen Pleads Guilty To Multi-Year Manuscript Theft And Impersonation Scheme

Caption: United States v. Damian Williams, et al.

summary

Italian citizen Filippo Bernardini pleaded guilty to wire fraud for impersonating publishing professionals and phishing a scouting firm to steal over 1,000 manuscripts, agreeing to $88,000 restitution and facing up to 20 years in prison.

paragraph

Filippo Bernardini, a 30‑year‑old Italian living in London, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for a multi‑year scheme that stole more than 1,000 pre‑publication manuscripts by impersonating agents, editors and literary scouts. He created over 160 look‑alike email domains and used a counterfeit website to phish login credentials from about 20 users of a New York literary scouting company. Under his plea, Bernardini will pay $88,000 in restitution and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years, with sentencing set for April 5, 2023.

narrative

Filippo Bernardini, a 30‑year‑old Italian citizen based in London, admitted guilt to a single count of wire fraud for a scheme that ran from at least August 2016 until his arrest in January 2022. He fabricated more than 160 deceptive email domains and posed as agents, editors, and literary scouts to trick authors and publishers into sending him confidential pre‑publication manuscripts, ultimately obtaining over a thousand works. Bernardini also launched a phishing attack against a New York‑based literary scouting company, creating a fake website that harvested the usernames and passwords of roughly 20 users. The stolen manuscripts and credentials were used to further his illicit collection of unpublished literary content. As part of his plea, he agreed to pay $88,000 in restitution to the victims. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison, with sentencing scheduled for April 5, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon. The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the Southern District of New York’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.

Enriched metadata

Scheme: cyber-fraud (95%)
Court: Southern District of New York
Outcome: pleaded
Restitution: $88,000

Classified cyber-fraud(confidence 95%). No EDGAR filing fingerprint (criminal/DOJ-side scheme). detection rule →

Extracted insights

Dollar amounts 1

$88K $88,000 $10K–$100K

Entities 5

person damian williams
person filippo bernardini
scheme_term one count of wire fraud
person publishing industry
scheme_term wire fraud charge

Triples 13

Filippo Bernardini pled guilty to one count of wire fraud
Filippo Bernardini impersonated agents, editors, and other individuals involved in publishing
Filippo Bernardini obtained more than one thousand prepublication manuscripts
Filippo Bernardini created more than 160 internet domains
Filippo Bernardini engaged in phishing scheme to gain access to Scouting Company-1 database
Filippo Bernardini obtained login information of approximately 20 users
Filippo Bernardini agreed to pay $88,000 in restitution
Filippo Bernardini scheduled to be sentenced on April 5, 2023
Damian Williams announced guilty plea of Filippo Bernardini
Filippo Bernardini was based in London
Filippo Bernardini worked in publishing industry
Filippo Bernardini arrested on January 2022
Wire fraud charge carries maximum sentence of 20 years in prison

View original DOJ press releasejustice.gov

Extracted body text (4,521c)

Press Release Italian Citizen Pleads Guilty To Multi-Year Manuscript Theft And Impersonation Scheme Friday, January 6, 2023 Share FacebookLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. XLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. LinkedInLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. Email For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that FILIPPO BERNARDINI pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with a multi-year scheme to impersonate individuals involved in the publishing industry in order to fraudulently obtain more than one thousand prepublication manuscripts of novels and other forthcoming books. The defendant pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Filippo Bernardini used his insider knowledge of the publishing industry to create a scheme that stole precious works from authors and menaced the publishing industry. Through impersonation and phishing schemes, Bernardini was able to obtain more than a thousand manuscripts fraudulently. I commend the career prosecutors of this Office as well as our law enforcement partners for writing the final chapter to Bernardini’s manuscript theft scheme.” According to statements and filings in federal court: Beginning in at least August 2016 and continuing through his January 2022 arrest, BERNARDINI, who was based in London and worked in the publishing industry, impersonated agents, editors, and other individuals involved in publishing to fraudulently obtain prepublication manuscripts. In carrying out this scheme, BERNARDINI created fake email accounts that were designed to impersonate real people employed in the publishing industry, including literary talent agencies, publishing houses, literary scouts, and others. BERNARDINI created these accounts by registering more than 160 internet domains that were crafted to be confusingly similar to the real entities that they were impersonating, including only minor typographical errors that would be difficult for the average recipient to identify during a cursory review. Over the course of this scheme, BERNARDINI impersonated hundreds of distinct people and engaged in hundreds of unique efforts to fraudulently obtain electronic copies of manuscripts that he was not entitled to. BERNARDINI obtained more than a thousand manuscripts through fraud. In addition, BERNARDINI engaged in a phishing scheme to surreptitiously gain access to a database maintained by a New York City-based literary scouting company (“Scouting Company-1”). BERNARDINI created a webpage that impersonated Scouting Company-1’s website. Then, in or about July 2020, BERNARDINI impersonated a Scouting Company-1 employee and emailed two individuals, directing them to BERNARDINI’s look-alike webpage and prompting the users to provide their usernames and passwords. BERNARDINI’s webpage was programmed to automatically forward the input usernames and passwords to an email account controlled by BERNARDINI. BERNARDINI obtained the login information of approximately 20 users. * * * FILIPPO BERNARDINI, 30, of London, United Kingdom, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. As part of his guilty plea, BERNARDINI agreed to pay restitution of $88,000. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Nessim is in charge of the prosecution. Contact Nicholas Biase (212) 637-2600 Updated January 6, 2023 Topic Financial Fraud Component USAO - New York, Southern Press Release Number: 23-004

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