Prison inmates charged in alleged identity theft scheme
SOUTH BEND -- Three Indiana State Prison inmates and 17 other people have been charged in an alleged identity theft scheme that targeted elderly widows and widowers, authorities said Monday.
U.S. Attorney Joseph S. Van Bokkelen and St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak announced the filing of federal and state identity theft charges against the 20 suspects.
The scam involved telephone calls in which the victims were told they would receive help in re-establishing credit upon the death of their spouse, authorities said. The victims provided credit and other information that was then used to add others as authorized users on their credit cards.
"They had very good credit, so it is easy to escalate getting credit limits exceeding $20,000," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Toi Houston. "Then these individuals, after they got their initial cash advances from $2,500 to $10,000, would then give the credit card to the people they recruited to go to retail establishments and within a three-day period, they would rack up close to $5,000 in retail purchases."
Postal authorities said about 30 people and 13 credit card companies were victimized, with losses totaling about $115,000. Most of the victims were from Indiana or Illinois, but some victims were also from Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky, Florida, California and New York.
Among those charged were Telly Gant, 29, Robert Smith, 30, and Melvin Fagan, 34, all inmates of the Michigan City prison between January 2002 and June 2003, when the scam allegedly operated.
Authorities say they recruited others outside the prison to assist in the scheme.
