Identity Theft

A federal judge has sentenced a 36-year-old Philadelphia man to 212 months - nearly 18 years - in prison for his part in a multistate bank-fraud and identity-theft ring that targeted bank customers between February 2004 and November 2005. The total loss from the schemes exceeded $400,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. During a sentencing hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick also ordered Akintunde Crawford, a three-time convicted felon, to pay $109,552 in restitution and a $1,000 special assessment, and sentenced him to five years' supervised release upon completion of the prison sentence.

A Philadelphia woman was sentenced yesterday to three to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay a $15,000 civil penalty for using stolen identities to buy two cars and acquire insurance for them. Shakira Bastone, 35, had pleaded guilty in July to 12 counts of identity theft, 10 counts of insurance fraud, three counts of forgery and related offenses. Common Pleas Court Judge Carolyn Engel Temin issued the sentence. Assistant District Attorney Charles Gallagher said Bastone, of Cliveden Street in Mount Airy, used the identities of a person boarding a cruise ship in Philadelphia and another whose wallet had been stolen in Atlanta.

In an unexpected move, federal prosecutors said last night that they would ask a judge to revoke bail today and detain Jocelyn S. Kirsch, the former Drexel University student accused in an audacious identity-theft scam. Kirsch, 22, the sometimes-violet-eyed beauty who captivated an international audience once tantalizing photos of her on vacation hit the Internet, had been scheduled to plead guilty this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. But last night, the U.S. Attorney's Office said that the plea hearing would be rescheduled and that a detention hearing would be held instead.

Philadelphia homicide detectives searched the house at 2523 S. Robinson St. two years ago looking for a murder suspect. Instead, they found an identity-theft laboratory - complete with credit-card embossers, phony checks, and fake driver's licenses - in one of the bedrooms. "You can't just call up and order a credit-card embosser," Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease said yesterday. "This is equipment that's supposed to be in financial institutions - in banks. " He spoke just hours after federal agents arrested Rodney Rutherford, 31, at his home in the 300 block of Berbro Street in Darby Borough and charged him with owning and using the exotic equipment.

A former bank employee was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for stealing the account information of at least seven customers and providing it to members of an identity theft ring, authorities said. Regina Tolliver, 39, of Philadelphia, worked at the King of Prussia branch of Citizens Bank. Between February and November 2007 Tolliver gathered customers' personal information which was used to create fake drive's licenses. "Check runners" then posed as the customers and cashed fraudulent checks made out to the victims of the identity theft.

Seniors who do not own personal computers are lucky, at least in one respect. They won't be prey to Internet identity theft, which victimizes millions of Americans online each year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. But wait! If you've prepared your own income taxes recently, you may still be at risk for identity theft if you trashed papers and bank statements containing important personal information such as Social Security numbers. Michael Bannon, director of the Bucks County Consumer Protection Bureau, said identity thieves would just as soon Dumpster dive or loot your mailbox as dupe you into providing Social Security and credit-card numbers via e-mail.

A high school acquaintance, a distinctive name, and a law-abiding life have added up to a nightmare for Marquette Frierson. The legal system, which normally finds people innocent until proved guilty, has flipflopped the rules for the 27-year mental-health worker from Yeadon. He is a felon until he can prove otherwise. Now, as he works to that end, his story serves as a warning that, in the age of information and identity theft, the criminal justice system can brand us for life.

PITTSBURGH - At least 29 employees of the city of Pittsburgh have had their identities stolen, police said Monday. Police sent an e-mail to city officials over the weekend, which indicated that the victims were in multiple departments. Employees received bills from PayPal for purchases they didn't make, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Detective Christopher Jordan of the Pittsburgh Police Computer Crimes Unit said the thief or thieves set up account numbers using employees' names, addresses and at least partial Social Security numbers.

The speaker had nice blue eyes and a winning smile. "We'll need everyone who attended to fill out this form with their name and address and Social Security number," Joe Malone told 40 elderly people who gathered yesterday at the Upper Merion Senior Service Center. Thirty-five didn't, but five did - which was Malone's point. An investigator for the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, Malone used the demonstration to show how a scam artist gains the trust of victims, only to exploit them later.

A South Jersey woman was sentenced to more than five years in prison after she submitted 90 student loan applications seeking more than $1.7 million. La'Vada Cruse, 25, of Browns Mills, was successful in garnering 17 of those loans and collected more than $192,000, prosecutor's said. In federal court in Camden, Cruse admitted that she applied for more than 90 loans in her own name and the names of her family whose names and social security numbers she used without their permission.

A NORTHEAST Philadelphia woman who faked having life-threatening cancer to delay reporting to prison in 2007, for stealing money from the bank accounts of elderly customers, was sentenced yesterday to almost five years in federal prison. After LeAnn Moock, 35, of Parkwood Manor, received a four-month sentence in 2007 and was permitted to self-report to prison, she began an elaborate scam, prosecutors said. They said that Moock fooled her own attorney and the presiding judge into believing she was in constant pain, being treated with extensive chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, and was expected to die soon.

A Philadelphia man working at a Department of Transportation office in Chester County has been arrested for allegedly providing driver's licenses to fugitives from justice, the Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday. Khalif Abdullah Ali, 43, was a supervisor at the Malvern Driver License Center in 2010 and 2011 when he allegedly provided the phony licenses, state police said. Ali was charged with conspiracy to commit identity theft, tampering with public records or information, and related offenses.

N. Korea: No U.S. nuclear monopoly SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Saturday that "nuclear weapons are not the monopoly of the United States," a day after a U.S. special envoy reported after two days of talks with North Korean officials that there had been no change in their negotiating style on nuclear programs under its new leadership. "The U.S. is sadly mistaken if it thinks it is safe as its mainland is far away across the ocean," said officials in North Korea, which has conducted two nuclear tests since 2006 and has been developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.

A national crackdown on tax-related identity theft last week targeted more than 100 people and led to 58 arrests, according to the IRS and other federal officials. The IRS said it was also stepping up internal reviews to spot false tax returns, and working to help victims of identity theft refund schemes. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the crackdown "sends a strong, unmistakable message to anyone considering participating in a refund fraud scheme this tax season. We are aggressively pursuing cases across the nation with the Justice Department, and people will be going to jail.

FOR ALMOST 30 minutes yesterday, embezzler Bonnie Sweeten told a federal judge that she was "very sorry" to all the victims she scammed of more than $1 million over four years. "Not a day that goes by," she said, that she doesn't feel "shame and sorrow" for her actions. "How could I do these things to people that trusted me, to my family?" she asked. At one point, she turned to her parents, who were sitting in the courtroom. "You didn't raise me this way," she said, sobbing. U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. sentenced her to more than eight years in a federal lockup and ordered her to pay almost $1.1 million in restitution to her victims.

A FEDERAL judge yesterday found that admitted fraudster Bonnie Sweeten ripped off more than $1 million from clients and co-workers at a Bucks County personal-injury law firm where she worked before lying to a 9-1-1 operator about having been abducted and then jetting off to Disney World. That finding and others by U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. potentially exposes Sweeten to 10 years in prison. Yohn deferred final arguments and sentencing until next Thursday. Sweeten, 41, who has been in federal custody since June 2010, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Bucks County mother and fake kidnap victim Bonnie Sweeten stole $1.076 million, meaning she could face 10 years in prison, U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. ruled Wednesday. Crossing the $1 million threshold in monetary loss allows federal prosecutors to seek a sentence of 102 to 121 months. A final sentence will not come until next week, when the hearing convenes for a third time. Sweeten, 40, did not speak Wednesday, but in a brief, tearful statement, her father said he could not explain why she turned to crime.

U.S. District Court Judge William H. Yohn Jr. ruled Wednesday that Bucks County mother and fake kidnap victim Bonnie Sweeten stole $1.07 million, meaning she could face 10 years in prison. The one million dollar threshold allows federal prosecutors to seek a sentence of 102 to 121 months. Sweeten may testify before Yohn Wednesday afternoon. Defense attorney James McHugh was unsuccessful at convincing Yohn that Sweeten's former employer, disbarred lawyer Debbie Carlitz, knew of or approved some $100,000 in fraudulent loans.

A former Allentown woman who sought to have a romantic rival killed was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison. Marissa Mark, 29, hired a hit man on the Internet and tried to pay for the job with stolen credit cards. Mark, who later moved to Jersey City, N.J., pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and attempted access device fraud. In 2006, prosecutors said, she agreed to pay a man $37,000 to kill a woman.