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Prosecutors in Suffolk County announced on Wednesday, Sept. 23 that they’ve charged 13 people in a scheme that net them more than $1 million by stealing personal identification to create new identifies that were used to get loans and credit cards.
The scheme targeted at least 20 people on Long Island and more than a dozen banks.
It is alleged that the fraudsters stole Social Security numbers from vulnerable parties, including some who recently died, children, and the elderly, to create “synthetic identities,” for people who didn’t exist.
They then took steps to make the new identities appear legitimate, tying them to phone accounts, library cards, and things like reward card accounts, making that information accessible to databases used by banks to inform them before issuing a loan or credit card account.
The group then allegedly took several steps to fraudulently build credit for the fake identities, including adding the fake identities as authorized users on an existing person's credit card, Suffolk County DA Timothy Sini said.
The scheme’s purported ringleader, Adam Arena, 43, of Corona, California, would then create shell corporations that would falsely report the fake identities to credit reporting agencies as if they were legitimate and valid.
After building credit on the fraudulent accounts, the schemers used that good faith to obtain the loans and credit card accounts under the fake identities.
The investigation into suspected identity fraud on Long Island began in August 2018 at multiple Long Island banks and credit unions and is ongoing.
Schemers from Long Island charged for their roles in the scam:
- Charissa Baerga, 30, of Elmont;
- David Bouey, 60, of Shirley;
- Daniel Delmoral, 55, of North Babylon;
- Bruce Evans, 44, of Bay Shore;
- Charnell Morris, also known as Charnell Solomon, 43, of Mastic Beach;
- Viki Osredkarm 35, of East Northport;
- Elias Pagan, 45, of Central Islip;
- Leonidas Rivera, 40, of Levittown;
- Patricia Schellas, also known as Patricia Gallagher, 57, of Shirley;
- Tremayne Smith, 44, of Mastic.
They will face a variety of grand larceny, forgery, fraud, conspiracy, falsifying business records, and other charges.
Anyone who may have been a victim of the scheme has been asked to contact the Suffolk County Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit at (631) 852-6821.
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