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Jeon Kichul, a 43-year-old Korean national, was arrested last December after Detective David Chun identified him as the porch pirate who swiped a package containing a baseball glove from outside a resident’s home, Capt. Shawn Lee said.
Kichul, who was also carrying bogus ID, was released pending further investigation, said Lee, the officer in charge of the department.
Chun then learned that Jeon was "part of a crime ring involved in fraud, forgery, identity theft and theft by deception,” the captain said.
Detective Lt. Alex Monteleone and bureau investigators quickly identified two other participants, Jin Long, 31, and Jin Ho, 39 – both of whom, like Jeon, are from Flushing.
The conspirators had bought vehicles using identities stolen from victims in several states, Lee said. The buyers, like the ID theft victims, had no idea that they’d been used, he said.
Detectives moved in and nabbed the trio as they tried to sell a stolen Infiniti to a victim in Palisades Park last Thursday, Lee said. One of them was driving a BMW that had also been bought with a stolen identity, he said.
In the end, detectives recovered four luxury vehicles while also seizing what the captain called a “large amount” of fictitious government identifications and fraudulently obtained credit cards.
Kichul and Jin Long – a South Korean national who was wanted on an outstanding warrant out of Nassau County – were sent to the Bergen County Jail on various charges that include ID theft, conspiracy and hindering. ICE placed a detainer on Kichul.
Ho, meanwhile, was released on a summons.
Lee urged citizens to “safeguard their personal information at all times and regularly check their credit for any suspicious activities. If any suspicious activity is found you are urged to conduct the Palisades Park Police Department and to file a police report.”
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