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News Releases:
ID
Theft Leads To Charges For Six
A grand jury has indicted six people in an alleged scheme to obtain
more than $5.7 million in mortgages and multimillion-dollar lines
of credit by falsifying documents and obtaining personal information
from people who thought they were applying for jobs.
According to indictments handed up Tuesday and made public Wednesday,
members of the group provided false information on loan applications,
faked employment verifications and doctored financial documents.
They also used help-wanted advertisements to solicit personal information
from people who thought they were applying for jobs with a Westminster
mortgage brokerage, according to an arrest affidavit issued earlier.
The use of help-wanted ads to collect information for identity theft
is becoming more common. Last year, online job site Monster.com
warned users that false job postings were being used to illegally
collect personal information from job seekers.
Experts in the field say job seekers are prime targets for identify
theft because information on applications typically provides sensitive
personal information.
The Denver Post talked to one woman who believed she was a target
of the fraud in Westminster when she applied for a job with Amerifunding,
a mortgage company owned by Gerald P. Small of Broomfield.
Small, 42, was one of the six indicted this week.
Joan Germano of Arvada responded to a help-wanted ad she saw in
The Post in February, after she was laid off from her job at a title
company. The ad promised salaries of more than $100,000 for account
representatives who applied in person at Amerifunding's offices
at 8700 Turnpike Drive in Westminster.
When Germano showed up at the offices, she was asked to fill out
an application and provide copies of her driver's license and Social
Security card. She declined to provide her Social Security card
but shared her license.
"My gut told me not to give them my license, but I was pretty desperate.
I let my desperation override my good judgment," Germano said.
She never heard never heard back from Amerifunding but later received
a call from a bank representative who wanted to know if she was
happy with her loan. She was contacted by an investigator from the
Internal Revenue Service shortly thereafter.
Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver,
said investigators are looking into additional victims of the alleged
fraud.
Small was arrested on a criminal complaint related to the scheme
March 12. He was indicted Tuesday along with Kelli B. Small, 30,
of Broomfield; Robert E. Bichon, 37, no address listed; Robert J.
Sigg, 39, of Parker; Charles E. Winnett, 31, of Conifer; and Chad
E. Heinrich, 32, of Broomfield.
Proceeds from the loans are believed to have been used to purchase
a 2004 Jaguar XJR and properties in Conifer, Las Vegas and Henderson,
Nev.
Bichon and Sigg were arrested Wednesday morning and made their first
appearance in U.S. District Court on Wednesday afternoon. The two
were ordered held until a detention hearing Friday.
Gerald Small is scheduled to appear in court today. Kelli Small,
Winnett and Heinrich were tentatively scheduled to surrender to
authorities today, Dorschner said.
According to court documents, Kelli Small is also known as Kelli
S. Burkhalter, and Gerald Small is also known as Gerald A. Spence
and Kris Kaas.
Article
Published: Thursday, April 08, 2004
Job applicants had info stolen
By Kristi Arellano
Denver Post Business Writer
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