Couple Plead Guilty in Credit Card Scheme

A Laguna Hills couple has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a scheme using 300 credit cards obtained under 95 fictitious names to charge $1 million from 1999 to 2003, authorities said Thursday.

Asghar Syed, 56, and his wife, Teresa Syed, 53, are scheduled for sentencing Nov. 28. He faces up to 90 years in prison and a $2.75 million fine. She faces as many as 10 years and a $250,000 fine, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert J. Keenan, who is prosecuting the case.

Asghar Syed admitted obtaining the credit cards and two bank credit lines using fictitious names and a fake “front” business he established in West Covina, Keenan said. Teresa Syed admitted using one of the phony credit cards to pay for, among other things, her child’s tuition at a private Orange County parochial school, he said.