Westchester County police have charged three men with stealing people’s identities to open fraudulent credit accounts and purchase more than $100,000
worth of merchandise.
The suspects are facing multiple felony charges, including Identity Theft and Grand Larceny. The investigation into the fraud is continuing and county police believe there may be more victims. The three men, including two former employees of a telecommunications company, are accused of using the stolen Personal Identity Information, PII, of multiple victims to open credit accounts and then purchase iPhones, iPads and other expensive
wireless devices and accessories.
From about January 2019 through August 2019, two employees of the telecommunications company opened numerous fraudulent customer accounts at
a store in Yonkers. They were assisted by a third person who provided them with stolen Personal Identity Information of multiple victims. The scheme also involved a group of “runners” who brought the stolen PII into the store.
The stolen information belonged to real people and businesses and included names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Using this stolen
information, the employees created accounts in the victims’ names without their knowledge. The victims learned of the fraud after the accounts went into
default and they received bills for the merchandise charged in their names.
Once the fraud was discovered, the employees resigned from the company. The company, which has cooperated in the investigation, is not being identified at this time due to the ongoing probe.
Arrested in recent days were Rafael Vidal Aponte, 31, of Pomona, N.Y., Jordon Andre Clarke, 25, of the Bronx, N.Y., and Edwin Olivera, 31, of Forest Hills,
N.Y. Aponte and Clarke are the former employees. The case was investigated by Detective Brandon Amlung, assisted by Detective Kevin McGovern, of the General Investigations Unit.
Any persons in Westchester County who were a victim of a fraudulently opened wireless telecommunications account is urged to contact Amlung
at 864-7728 or via email at bma1@westchestergov.com.
(Submitted)
