Feds indict dealers of data for fake credit history reports

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Dealers in data for credit history fraud are indicted
By TONY RIZZO
The Kansas City Star


Federal prosecutors in Kansas City on Wednesday claimed a first-in-the-nation indictment against people who supply information used to build fake credit histories.

Credit history fraud is a growing criminal trend across the country, prosecutors said. In this case, it was unearthed “operating in the shadows” of a more traditional mortgage fraud scheme.

In the federal grand jury indictment returned Wednesday, two people were accused of conspiring in a large-scale scheme to help others buy expensive houses in Lee’s Summit by using phony credit reports and stolen Social Security numbers.

A California real estate agent and a Florida businessman allegedly supplied the false information to three others, including two Kansas City area men, to falsely obtain nearly $3 million in mortgage loans.

The fake credit histories enabled those three people to buy six residential properties in Lee’s Summit priced from $418,000 to more than $600,000, according to the indictment.

“Credit history fraud is a new and troubling criminal scheme,” said Beth Phillips, U.S. attorney in Kansas City.

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http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/04/2129932/dealers-in-data-for-credit-history.html