Headlines:
| Fraud Squad cracks down on identity theft |
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| Thursday, 20 September 2007 | |
The Fraud Squad says it has stepped up its drive to crack
down on persons involved in identity theft.A 27-year-old mechanic was charged this week after he reportedly pocketed more than a million dollars after stealing the identity of customers of the City of Kingston Cooperative Credit Union. The accused, Damion Deer was remanded when he appeared before the Half-Way-Tree Criminal Court Wednesday on several counts of fraud and conspiracy. The Fraud Squad reported that over a one week period between August 30 and September 6, Mr. Deer obtained $1.2 million from the accounts of customers of various branches of the COK using false identification. The police added that he also obtained a loan of $800,000 from the credit union by using false identification, including a ficticious Florida driver's license. The police say after hitting several branches of the COK in the Corporate Area, he ventured into Montego Bay to continue his scam. He attempted to withdraw $260,000 from the account of a customer at the Montego Bay branch, but was nabbed when alert employees discovered that the identification was false. He was then handed over to the Fraud Squad in Kingston. Investigations by the police led them to a string of fraud cases against Mr. Deer. He was remanded until October 3. |