Identity Theft

The former leader of an identity-theft ring out on supervised release after almost three years in jail was back in federal court yesterday, charged with using stolen credit-card information to buy airline tickets to the Caribbean and a car for a friend and to pay for plumbing repairs at her West Philadelphia home. Nefertiti Randall, 28, was arrested by U.S. postal inspectors in 2002 and accused of leading a group that racked up almost $250,000 in fraudulent credit-card charges.

For a time, the alleged scam seems to have worked. A Frankford man is accused of bilking Pennsylvania auto insurers out of $29,000 in 17 false claims of vandalism between February 2002 and May 2003 by using fraudulently obtained policies on vehicles he registered in his name and the name of a person whose identity he stole, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Insurance Fraud Unit announced yesterday. An additional 45 claims, worth more than $120,000, were fraudulently sought but ultimately denied, investigators said.

While some describe electronic medical records as a superhighway to better care and increased efficiency in the medical system, others worry that it could be a dangerous dark alley. "The electronic health system is not safe," said Deborah C. Peel, an Austin, Texas, psychiatrist who founded the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation. Just ask David Richardson. An acquaintance of Richardson's used the Philadelphia man's name and health insurance information to obtain medical services at several hospitals, including Hahnemann University Hospital and Chester County Hospital, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.

Three Nigerians living and working in the Philadelphia suburbs were arrested and charged with large-scale identity theft within a week of each other last year. The case of one of them, a Claymont, Del., man who answered telephones at the Social Security center in Upper Darby and who allegedly stole personal information from agency computers, drew scant attention. He pleaded guilty in October. But the case against the others, a Darby Borough husband and wife accused of stealing hundreds of identities through their airport cleaning business, was mind-boggling from the beginning.

The tall man in a red prison uniform who appeared briefly in District Court yesterday has been so desperate to keep his real identity from police that he recently tried to chew off the tips of his fingers. He stood in court, facing charges that he stole the identities of hundreds of people and ran up huge credit card bills, as Olug Bemiga Olusato. But authorities do not believe that is his real name. He had been known as Adegboyega Joshuaville for the six months he lived on Columbia Avenue and operated a cleaning business at Philadelphia International Airport.

A former American Red Cross data-input clerk in Philadelphia was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on charges of leaking the financial identities of more than 40 blood donors to a convicted robber who allegedly used the information to obtain $268,762 in cash and merchandise. Danielle Baker, 33, of Collingswood, was indicted on conspiracy and identity-theft charges in a scheme that prosecutors said involved her former boyfriend, convicted robber Harold J. McCoy 3d. U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan said the scheme caused a crisis from which "the individual victims and the Red Cross are still trying to recover.

In an effort to combat fraud and identity theft - two key components of terrorism - Gov. McGreevey signed an executive order yesterday making it tougher to obtain vital records that could be used to aid terrorist plots. The governor also signed legislation that allocates $23.7 million in federal funds to beef up the state's ability to respond to threats of bioterrorism and other health emergencies. "America is involved in a very basic battle - a battle of good versus evil," McGreevey said before the signings.

The duo dubbed the "Bonnie and Clyde" of ID fraud kept their profile low and public interest running high yesterday as they dodged camera jockeys and reporters to turn themselves in on burglary charges. Investigators say Jocelyn Kirsch, 22, and Edward Anderton, 25, raised cash for a globe-trotting lifestyle by stealing identities, some of them from neighbors in their Center City condo. They had been free on bail after being arrested Friday on charges including forgery, identity theft, and unlawful use of a computer.

A taxicab brought Antonia Silva to Camden's Division of Motor Vehicles office from a distance of about 65 miles. A police cruiser took her away. Somewhere in between, the Mexican immigrant lost almost all of her savings - along with her bid to become an American, at least in name. Silva, 27, was arrested last Friday and charged with impersonation and identity theft after, DMV officials said, she presented false documents to obtain a New Jersey driver's license. The state Department of Transportation announced the arrest yesterday, citing it as one result of its efforts to crack down on fraud since the Sept.

Prompted by a highly publicized murder and mounting public concern about privacy and identity theft, lawmakers are considering whether to restrict or ban the sale or disclosure of a person's Social Security number without consent. In hearings today and Thursday, a House Ways and Means subcommittee will hear testimony from people whose Social Security numbers were stolen, as well as from business leaders and state officials who fear that limiting use of the numbers could turn record-keeping into a nightmare.