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NEWS RELEASE |
Contact: Alicia Maxey Greene |
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Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today a 639-count indictment of 15 individuals in connection with a $600,000 pickpocketing and identity theft ring which compromised at least 60 accounts at various bank branches. The defendants are ARTHUR FRANKLIN, JOSEPH SIMMS, VINCENT FRANKLIN, JAMES MANNIX, KATHLEEN MILLER, CAROL DIBITETTO, LARRY FORD, KANDRA LYSLAND, TINA BARBOZA, MARY BENNETT, YVONNE HARRIS, and three women and one man who remain unidentified. Each of them has been indicted on multiple felony charges, including grand larceny, identity theft, criminal possession of a forged instrument, conspiracy, scheme to defraud, attempted grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between October 1, 2008 and October 31, 2009. The investigation leading to today’s indictment began when a fraud investigator at Chase Bank discovered what appeared to be unrelated fraudulent bank transactions at various Chase branches. While viewing surveillance videotape of these transactions, the investigator noticed that the transactions primarily were conducted by women wearing wigs, hats, and glasses. In addition, although different women were carrying out the transactions, one man, ARTHUR FRANKLIN, regularly was present in the bank and appeared to be monitoring the person conducting the fraudulent transaction. FRANKLIN stood out because he often was dressed as a construction worker. In a couple of instances, he wore a doctor’s uniform, including a stethoscope. Further review of the surveillance videos revealed that defendants JOSEPH SIMMS and VINCENT FRANKLIN also supervised the fraudulent bank transactions. Chase Bank determined that the victims of these transactions had all reported having been pickpocketed or having lost a wallet or bank documents. The investigation further revealed how these victims’ property came to be used at banks. First, BARBOZA, BENNETT and others pickpocketed numerous victims and provided the property they stole to ARTHUR FRANKLIN. In some cases, BARBOZA and BENNETT made purchases using victims’ credit cards before selling the victims’ stolen identification and financial documents to FRANKLIN. MILLER and MANNIX were employed at a collection agency in Harrisburg, PA. Both MILLER and MANNIX had access to Accurint, a computer program through which personal identifying information can be obtained, including addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth, and telephone numbers. Although MILLER and MANNIX were authorized to conduct only work-related searches and were not permitted to share any information obtained with anyone outside of their workplace, at FRANKLIN’s request, both MILLER and MANNIX conducted searches to obtain personal identifying information of pickpocket victims, including social security numbers, and sold that information to FRANKLIN. FRANKLIN provided the stolen identification information and financial documents, as well as the personal identifying information of the victims, to MILLER, DIBITETTO, FORD, LYSLAND, BARBOZA and at least four others in order to conduct fraudulent banking transactions. MILLER, DIBITETTO, FORD, LYSLAND, BARBOZA, and others, in turn, dressed up like pickpocket victims, trying to match each victim’s appearance as closely as possible using, in some instances, a wig, hat, glasses, and makeup. In cases where no one in the group could convincingly impersonate a victim, a group member created a forged identification document bearing the victim’s personal identifying information but a photograph of the defendant who would ultimately conduct the fraudulent banking transaction. ARTHUR FRANKLIN, JOSEPH SIMMS, or VINCENT FRANKLIN then accompanied MILLER, DIBTETTO, FORD, LYSLAND, BARBOZA or others working for the ring into a bank. Pretending to be identity theft victims, these defendants approached tellers and asked to do a transaction, typically a cash withdrawal or the deposit of a check drawn on a different victim’s account. After each fraudulent transaction, MILLER, DIBITETTO, FORD, LYSLAND, BARBOZA or others impersonating victims provided the money obtained to ARTHUR FRANKLIN, JOSEPH SIMMS, or VINCENT FRANKLIN, who gave them a portion of the money as payment. On June 4, 2009, DIBITETTO entered a Citibank branch wearing a wig and dressed as a victim. She made a deposit into the victim’s account and requested to make a withdrawal. The teller became suspicious when she noticed that the signature on the withdrawal slip did not match the one on the account and when DIBITETTO claimed to live near the bank, while the account had an address in Washington, D.C. DIBITETTO fled the bank, but was apprehended outside. She has remained in custody since. On August 6, 2009, VINCENT FRANKLIN attempted to pickpocket a victim on the subway. When he was arrested, he had in his possession Metrocards that had been purchased using a credit card stolen from a different pickpocketing victim. He has remained in custody since his arrest. On August 20, 2009, ARTHUR FRANKLIN was arrested, and he has remained in custody since that time. On August 21, 2009, a search warrant was executed at FRANKLIN’s apartment, and approximately 200 stolen credit cards, checks, and identification cards as well as wigs were recovered. A construction worker’s hard hat was recovered from FRANKLIN’s car. On August 31, 2009, MARY BENNETT was arrested in connection with several pickpocketing incidents, and she has remained in custody since. On September 10, 2009, a search warrant was executed at a home shared by SIMMS and HARRIS. Stolen credit cards, checks, and identification cards as well as forged identification cards were recovered. Investigators also recovered approximately $74,000 in cash. Stolen credit cards were also recovered in SIMMS’ car, along with a wig. SIMMS was arrested on September 10, 2009, and has remained in custody since. On October 7, 2009, TINA BARBOZA was arrested purchasing a designer handbag at Saks Fifth Avenue using a credit card she had obtained while pickpocketing. BARBOZA has been released on bail. In addition to the defendants described above, another four individuals who worked for the ring by impersonating victims at banks have been indicted. At this time, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and New York City Police Department are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying these defendants, who appear in numerous bank surveillance photographs conducting fraudulent transactions. The defendants have been indicted on various charges, including Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Identity Theft in the First Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, Attempted Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, Identity Theft in the Second Degree, Attempted Identity Theft in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, Forgery in the Second Degree, Petit Larceny, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree and Criminal Possession of Marijuana in the Fifth Degree. Grand Larceny in the Second Degree is a class C felony, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Identity Theft in the First Degree, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and Forgery in the Second Degree are class D felonies, which are punishable by up to 7 years in prison. Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, Identity Theft in the Second Degree, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree are class E felonies, which are punishable by up to 4 years in prison. The investigation is continuing. JOSEPH SIMMS will be arraigned today in State Supreme Court before Justice Gregory Carro, Part 32. ARTHUR FRANKLIN, VINCENT FRANKLIN, CAROL DIBITETTO, MARY BENNETT, and TINA BARBOZA are awaiting arraignment on this indictment. Mr. Morgenthau thanked the Identity Theft Squad of the New York City Police Department, particularly Detective Hector Rodriguez, who was the lead detective of this investigation. He also thanked the Manhattan North and South Grand Larceny Task Forces, as well as officers and detectives of the 1st Precinct, 13th Precinct, 20th Precinct, 32nd Precinct, Transit Boro Manhattan Task Force, and Special Investigations Unit. In addition, Mr. Morgenthau thanked the Pennsylvania State Police for their assistance with this investigation. Mr. Morgenthau likewise thanked JP Morgan Chase Bank, particularly Karen Kelly, Assistant Vice President of Global Security and Investigations. He also thanked Citibank and Bank of America, as well as Lexis Nexis. The following companies and restaurants were also thanked for their assistance: Duane Reade, Shake Shack, Saks Fifth Avenue, Fairway, Dos Caminos, Maoz Vegetarian, Osteria del Circo, Bin 71, Cafe Fiorello, Best Buy, CVS and Tani. Assistant District Attorney Tracy Conn is handling the prosecution of the case and presented it to the Grand Jury, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Antonia Merzon, Chief of the Identity Theft Unit. Investigative Analyst Nicolette Endara assisted in the investigation, and Senior Forensic Examiner Richard Brittson also assisted. Defendant Information ARTHUR FRANKLIN, 4/4/1964 JOSEPH SIMMS, 8/7/1937 VINCENT FRANKLIN, 1/28/1963 JAMES MANNIX, 11/4/1955 KATHLEEN MILLER. 7/8/1955 CAROL DIBITETTO, 3/31/1964 LARRY FORD, 5/4/1956 KANDRA LYSLAND, 2/17/1985 TINA BARBOZA, 2/1/1964 MARY BENNETT, 12/31/1957 YVONNE HARRIS, 4/11/1939 JANE DOE (white hair patch) JANE DOE (wide smile) JANE DOE (cane) JOHN DOE (bald man)
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