New York City man sentenced to nearly 26 years in prison for kidnapping and obstructing federal probe

A former resident of Inland Empire, who was the CEO of a business in Upland, has been charged with causing unauthorized charges on thousands of consumer credit and debit card accounts. The Justice Department has accused Jason Edward Thomas Cardiff, who is currently in federal custody, of access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and two counts of witness tampering. He allegedly directed his employees at Redwood Scientific Technologies, which sold homeopathic thin film strip products, to use the credit and debit card information associated with previous customers to charge for additional products that those customers had not ordered. He also ordered employees to destroy documents that were responsive to a Federal Trade Commission Civil Investigative Demand. If convicted, Cardiff could face a maximum of 15 years for access device fraud, 20 years for witness tampering, and a mandatory two-year term of imprisonment for aggravated identity theft. Cardiff has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

By Anita Johnson-Brown

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