A Huntsville man was one of eight people recently charged in connection with an international scheme to bill $10 million in fraudulent market survey data, according to an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack.

Each of the following individuals has been indicted on one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud:

1. Frank Hayden, 57, of Evanston, Illinois.
2. Daniel Harriman, 38, of Huntsville.
3. Frank Nappo, 55, of Rye, New Hampshire.
4. Ryan Stoudt, 38, of Dallas, Texas.
5. Katarina Grubljesic, 46, of Belgrade, Serbia.
6. Strahinja Grubljesic, 38, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
7. Archie Ignacio, 46, of Verona, New Jersey.
8. Arvind Iyer, a/k/a S. Aravindan, of Delhi, India.

In 2014, Hayden, Harriman, and Nappo, who were senior leaders at U.S. market research company Op4G, decided to increase company revenues by generating fabricated survey data, according to the recently unsealed indictment.

To execute the scheme, some of the defendants recruited “ants”, who pretended to be legitimate survey takers but instead were paid a nominal fee for completing surveys that produced fraudulent market research data.

Some of the defendants themselves served as “ants” and fraudulently took large quantities of surveys and received significant payment for their “ant” work, according to the indictment.

Around 2018, Nappo, Hayden and others, decided that Op4G should move the fraudulent survey operation to a new company, which became Slice.

By 2019, Op4G and Slice began conspiring with Iyer, a senior leader at an international company, SNWare.

By 2021, Katarina Grublijesic left Op4G, but she continued to conspire with the defendants using her international company, Bright Analytic Consulting.

To evade detection, the defendants, including Stoudt and Ignacio, exchanged instructions with each other and the “ants,” the indictment says.

These instructions included directions on how to answer survey screener questions, provided parameters on how long “ants” should remain on surveys, and encouraged the use of virtual private network (VPN) services to conceal real IP addresses.

Hayden, Harriman, Nappo, Stoudt, and Ignacio will appear in federal court at a later date, according to McCormack’s announcement.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.

Companies that purchased survey data from Op4G or Slice between 2014-2024 have been encouraged to contact the U.S. Attorney’s office at [email protected] with the subject line “Slice,” the release says.

“The details contained in the indictment are allegations,” it adds.

“The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”