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Woman gets 3 years for role in $200M credit card fraud scam

TRENTON, N.J. – A Philadelphia woman has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for her role in a $200 million credit card fraud scheme the U.S. Department of Justice calls the largest it has prosecuted.

Vernina Adams had pleaded guilty. She was sentenced Friday in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey.

The Department of Justice says the New Jersey-based crime ring created more than 7,000 fake identities to get tens of thousands of credit cards. Nineteen people were charged, including the 34-year-old Adams in 2013.

Officials say the scheme involved pumping up the creditworthiness of the fake identities to max out the credit cards and never repay them. They say Adams helped construct the elaborate network of false identities.

A message seeking comment from her lawyer hasn’t been returned.

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