East Northport Resident Among 13 Accused of Fraud

An East Northport resident is among 13 people facing charges in what Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said Wednesday was a scheme to commit fraud using false Social Security identifications.

Sini, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart, the US Secret Service and the Social Security Administration said a grand jury brought a 108-count indictment against the 13 individuals and three corporations, allegedly stealing more than $1 million from financial institutions.

“This is an extremely complex crime and it can be very difficult to identify the perpetrators, but the team who is investigating and prosecuting this case meticulously followed the evidence and unraveled this scheme, which has far-reaching impacts on everyday citizens,” Sini said. “We will seek justice for all of the victims – both the financial institutions that have been defrauded and the individual victims whose identities were stolen by these criminals. I thank all of the agencies who have assisted and are continuing to assist our office with this investigation and prosecution..”

Those charged included:

Viki Osredkar, 35, of East Northport, is charged with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; two counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

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Adam D. Arena, 43, of Corona, California is charged with seven counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a C felony; eight counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a D felony; four counts of Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, an E felony; Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor. Arena is alleged to have opened shell corporations and sold corporate tradelines to improve the credit profile score of the synthetic identities in this scheme.

Charissa Baerga, 30, of Elmont, is charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

David Bouey, 60, of Shirley, is charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a D felony; two counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

Daniel Delmoral, 55, of North Babylon, is charged with six counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; 10 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a D felony; 10 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

Bruce Evans, 44, of Bay Shore, is charged with three counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a D felony; three counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

Charnell Morris a/k/a Charnell Solomon, 43, of Mastic Beach, is charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a C felony; Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a D felony; five counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

Elias Pagan, 45, of Central Islip, is charged with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a D felony; two counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

Leonidas Rivera, 40, of Levittown, is charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

Patricia Schellas a/k/a Patricia Gallagher, 57, of Shirley, is charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a D felony; Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, an E felony; and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

Tremayne Smith, 44, of Mastic, is charged with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, D felonies, three counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, E felonies, and one count of Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, an A misdemeanor.

 Two other individuals are being sought.

According to the indictment, the following corporations, which are owned by Arena, are charged as acting in concert with Arena to allegedly commit money laundering:

GFS Auto Sales LLC is charged with two counts of Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, an E felony.

SBC Software LLC is charged with Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, an E felony.

ADA Auto Group is charged with Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, an E felony.

The district attorney’s office said that the prosecution represents one of the first of its kind to target a new type of criminal scheme in which perpetrators create synthetic identities and use them to defraud financial institutions out of millions of dollars, harming individual victims in the process.

In August 2018, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Financial Investigations & Money Laundering Bureau and the Suffolk County Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit began an investigation into suspected identity fraud at several banks and credit unions on Long Island. The investigation revealed evidence that the defendants allegedly created and used more than 20 synthetic identities in Suffolk County to fraudulently obtain loans and credit card accounts from 19 different financial institutions.

Anyone who thinks they are  victims of this scheme to call the Suffolk County Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit at 631-852-6821.

“Some of the people involved in this scheme had strong financial backgrounds and recruited individuals who were down on their luck, offering them cash, for assistance in this operation,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said. “Together, they stole more than a million dollars but fortunately, our dedicated team unraveled their plot and are holding the perpetrators accountable. Through collaboration with the DA’s office, Social Security Administration, United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and law enforcement in California, we halted this scam and are hoping to shed light on the existence of synthetic identity fraud to enable people to take necessary precautions.”

Participants in the scheme would allegedly create synthetic identities by associating a stolen Social Security number with a different name, address and date of birth. The stolen Social Security numbers belonged to individuals with no existing credit history or those who were unlikely to be monitoring their credit history, such as children, recent immigrants, deceased individuals, elderly individuals, and incarcerated individuals.

The defendants allegedly took steps to then make the synthetic identities appear legitimate, including applying for phone accounts, e-mail accounts, rewards card accounts, library cards, and other accounts with minimal verification requirements. One of the perpetrators of this scheme would also allegedly insert the synthetic identities into public databases that are used by financial institutions to verify identity information in order to further legitimize the synthetic identities.

Identified as defrauded by the scheme  are Sheffield Financial, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, State Farm Bank, USAA Bank, Key Bank, Navy Federal Credit Union, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Nassau Financial Federal Credit Union, Synchrony Bank, Peoples Alliance Federal Credit Union, Members 1st Federal Credit Union, AmeriCU Credit Union, Webster Bank, Santander Bank, First National Bank of Omaha, Suffolk Federal Credit Union, Roadrunner Financial Inc., Teachers Federal Credit Union and Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union.

The accounts were allegedly used by several of the defendants to the maximum amount allowed and then the balances on the accounts were never paid, a scheme commonly known as a credit “bust out.”

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