Long Beach, Client 17, Identity Theft at Bank, Diversion

Our client was a senior in high school and had known some of his classmates since elementary school, so there was a trust in associating with most of them.

In a Nutshell: Client uses fake ID, with direction from an adult, to open a Wells Fargo bank account in Torrance to deposit stolen tax refund from victim living in Ventura. Case resolved in Long Beach Juvenile Court with diversion.

The other senior explained that our client would use a fake I.D. to open a bank account in the name of someone else and then, days later, deposit a check into the account. The other senior explained to our client that our client would need to provide a photograph of himself, such as his high school class photograph. Our client did so.

Our client was a former member of the high school’s football team and was working 20 hours per week at a local business. He was given priority acceptance at a local junior college and was enrolling in a summer school program to get a head start. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and was achievement oriented.

This case put all that hard work at risk of being wiped away. A few days after our client provided his friend with his school picture, his friend asked him if he would come with him in a car to go to a bank. Our client agreed and they were picked up by two African American adults old enough to be their fathers. In fact, our client recognized one of the adults as the dad of another classmate.

The adults drove our client and his friend to a bank 40 miles away. When they arrived, our client’s friend gave him a fake I.D. and a tax refund check made out to the person on the fake I.D. Our client then went into the bank, opened up a bank account and deposited the check. It was unclear if our client was paid anything at that time. The car then returned them to the high school. Our client was not aware that the tax refund check had been stolen.
Our client was asked to now go in and withdraw $5,000 from the same account he had just set up. He would then give the money to the two men in the car waiting outside.

Our client again took the fake I.D. inside the bank and filled out a withdrawal slip. He handed it to the teller. The teller looked it over and showed it to her bank manager. The manager asked our client to have a seat in a nearby sofa. Our client did so.

The manager then called the Torrance Police, who responded to the bank within minutes. The car with our client’s friend and the two adults, upon seeing the police arrive, left.

Our client was arrested on suspicion of identity theft (Penal Code § 530.5(a)), grand theft of personal property (Penal Code § 487(a)), commercial burglary (Penal Code § 459) and use of a counterfeit seal (Penal Code § 472), all felonies. He was taken to the Torrance Police station and questioned.

His shocked mom was called by her son from the police station and picked him up later that day, after her son signed a promise to appear in the Long Beach Juvenile Court about two months later.

Long Beach Courthouse

---