Identity Theft Ring Steals Info. of Military Officers

[airframesguru]

Updated: Wednesday, Apr. 14, 2004 - 5:48 AM

By BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE (AP) - The Navy and local authorities are investigating an alleged identify theft ring accused of obtaining fake driver's licenses and stealing patient records from a large medical testing company to buy expensive cars and building supplies.

Five people have been arrested, including a Baltimore man who was an employee of Teterboro, N.J.-based Quest Diagnostics. They are accused of using the victims' names, Social Security numbers and other personal information to get credit at stores and car dealerships.

Local authorities have linked the ring to six civilian victims, all of whom were patients at Quest in the last six months, according to court records. One of the victims, Edward Smith of Frederick County, called police after an insurance company notified him that someone had bought a $42,100 Cadillac Escalade in his name with his Social Security number.

The investigation was continuing and detectives could find additional more victims, said Bill Toohey, a spokesman with the Baltimore County Police Department.

The Navy is looking into the theft of personal information from about 20 officers on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which is based in Norfolk, Va., and was sent in January to the Arabian Gulf. The suspects allegedly obtained fake Virginia and Washington, D.C., driver's licenses in the officers' names, court records show.

While the civilians' identities were stolen from their Quest records, it's not clear where the naval officers' information was obtained.

All the officers have been notified of the crimes, said Lt. Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman.

"The Navy is looking into the matter on our end, certainly, but also the Navy investigators are working closely with Baltimore and Fairfax County (Va.) police," Surette said.

After an employee probing credit accounts at a Target store in Baltimore County contacted police in November, a detective found the accounts were fraudulently set up using fake Virginia and District of Columbia driver's licenses. An investigation found that the victims' names were mainly those of officers assigned to the George Washington.

Beginning in June 2003, cars and motorbikes were being bought by people using the officers' names and giving addresses in Baltimore, according to court records.

Quest has fired the accused employee, 21-year-old Darren Rogers, said company spokeswoman Jennifer Somers. She said the company is cooperating with authorities "to understand precisely what happened."

"We are looking at whether additional measures might help to ensure that this doesn't happen again," Somers said.

The company, which describes itself as the nation's largest provider of lab testing, screens blood and urine specimens. It has 37,000 employees nationwide.

Baltimore County police started investigating several months ago when stores where the suspects shopped started reporting suspicious purchases.

Authorities arrested four Baltimore men this month after an off-duty police officer working as a security guard at a Home Depot store in Baltimore saw them try to buy about $10,000 worth of goods.

"While waiting for credit clearance, they suddenly just took off and this made the officer very suspicious," Toohey said.

The men attempted to leave in a red car and a U-Haul, but police caught up with them. The red Nissan 350Z, which was purchased for $50,900 using the fraudulently obtained name of a Quest patient, contained medical records from two Quest patients.

Charles Pineiro, 24; Derrick Faulcon, 22; Kevin Mosely, 34, and Dominic Watkins, 19, were charged with attempted felony theft. Further investigation led police to Rogers, who was arrested Friday. He was charged with five counts of identity theft.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[MillRatUSMC]

They should hang these Alpha, Serria, Serria, Hotel, Oscar, Lima, Echo, Serria from the highest tree they can find.
As they have no honor, the lowest of the low.
We would be better off without this scum...
Am I **** off, you better believe it!!!

Semper Fidelis
Ricardo

[namgrunt]

Delta, Alpha, Mike, November right, MillRat. You called it on the money.