3 Bernards Residents Were Victims of Identity Theft

Three Bernards Township residents were among the more than 70 people who made reports to 30 police departments within the last year or so that they were the victims of identity theft, prompting a statewide investigation that led to the arrest of 11 people earlier this month, authorities said.

Bernards Township Police Detective William Seiple on Tuesday said the identity theft incidents involving the township residents began in December 2012.

Since the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office just announced the arrests at the beginning of May, Seiple said there has been no money returned to those who apparently were the victims of fraud. Ten of those arrested were from Passaic County, mostly Paterson, with one from South Carolina.

Seiple said he and township detective Mark Neri had been part of an Identity Theft Task Force formed by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office White Collar Crimes Unit and 13 law police and prosecutor's offices throughout New Jersey, including Chester Township and other Morris County agencies.

Credit cards were opened in the victims' names, and charges were made on their behalf by "authorized buyers," Bergen Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

Throughout 2012 and 2013, more than 30 police departments received complaints from over 70 victims who reported identity theft, the prosecutor's office said. Those who filed the complains reported that someone unknown had applied for credit accounts in the victims’ names with a variety of financial institutions, including Comenity Bank, which services Annie Sez, Victoria’s Secret, Lane Bryant, and more; Macy’s; Bloomingdale’s' Saks 5th Ave.,; Neiman Marcus; Kohl’s; Lowe’s; Sears; and others.

The victims received correspondence in the mail congratulating them on the newly opened credit accounts that they had not opened themselves, the prosecutor's office said.

Those who filed complaints also said they received bills notifying them of various charges that had been made on the newly established credit accounts by “authorized buyers.”

The task force investigation found that most of the victims had recently refinanced or applied through mortgages through NJ Lenders Corporation, based in Little Falls, according to information from the Bergen Prosecutor's office. NJ Lenders archived its customers' files at C. Marino Records, a warehouse in Paterson.

The prosecutor's office claims that Kyle Davis of Paterson, an employee of C. Marino Records, sold victims' information to Shontera Jennings, also of Paterson. Jennings allegedly used the information to apply for credit cards, Molinelli said.

Once opened, Jennings added authorized buyers onto the accounts, who were sent to retailers to make purchases, Molinelli said. The scheme netted more than $150,000 in goods, the prosecutor said.

The following people were charged with trafficking in personal identifying information; theft by deception; and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. Bail was set at $300,000 each, no 10 percent option:

• Kyle Davis, 48, Paterson;
• Lakia Thomas, 34, Paterson;
• Angel Leary, 35, Paterson;
• Mark Gordon, 43, Paterson;
• Jannelle F. Fields, 33, Walterboro, SC;
• Randolph Grant, 36, Paterson;
• Shontera Jennings, 32, Paterson;
• Judith Broadnax, 47, Paterson;
• Oliver J. Hall, 40, Paterson;
• June W. Mattiex, 55, Wayne;
• Danisha L. Greene, 35, Paterson.

Seiple said that he and Neri had headed north to accompany the task force in the arrest of those charged as a result of the investigation.

On May 2, 2013, those charged were arrested at their residences in Paterson and nearby, and then lodged in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of bail. 

_ Nicholas Loffredo contributed to this report.