Police have hands full with fraud case

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- Police have arrested a 25-year-old man believed to be

the kingpin of a fraud ring that officials say is responsible for

stealing more than $1 million through a counterfeit check scam.

Newport Beach police arrested David Vincent on Sept. 25 after they

were tipped off by a local bank that refused to cash the counterfeit

checks and noted Vincent’s vehicle license plate number, Det. Evan Sailor

said. The man and fraud ring are also wanted by the Secret Service,

Sailor said Tuesday.

Vincent had opened multiple bank accounts at three local banks -- US

Bank, Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual -- between Aug. 22 and 24, Sailor

said.

Vincent then used a computer software program to print counterfeit

checks he made out to himself and deposited in those bank accounts, he

added.

“He wrote the checks in the name of Anchor General Insurance agency of

San Diego,” he said. “Then he withdrew money from those bank accounts.”

Sailor said Vincent withdrew up to $100,000 over a period of two weeks

in Newport Beach and that police officials have recovered $82,000 from

him so far.

Vincent’s scheme also extended to credit card fraud.

“He had gone into a Web site called roots.com, where he obtained

people’s birth certificates,” Sailor said, explaining Vincent’s mode of

operation.

“He printed out the certificates and went to the Department of Motor

Vehicles in Arizona and Indiana, and used those IDs to purchase credit

cards.”

Vincent is a resident of Colorado but has been on the move for a long

time and operates out of a laptop computer, Sailor said. He had rented a

room in Anaheim from 41-year-old Faranaz Kiasi, who was also arrested on

suspicion of fraud after police found fake credit cards in his

possession.

Chung Dao, who was also arrested on a similar charge, is believed to

be Vincent’s associate. No further information on Dao was available,

Sailor said.

Newport Beach police detectives deal with several similar crimes every

year, but one of such breadth and magnitude is rare, Sailor said.

“In crimes that we see, the maximum loss is between $1,000 and

$5,000,” he said. “But this is a nationwide scam.”

Sailor said Newport Beach will probably turn over the case to the

Secret Service.

“We have a lot of evidence to go through here,” he said. “We’re hoping

the Secret Service takes it over because [this crime] crosses state

borders.”