Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced a series of arrest in connection to an organized identity theft and fraud ring.
The arrests, which were effected on February 5, were made by officers from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the Closter Police Department and the New York City Police Department.
On November 17, 2015, members of the Closter Police Department arrested Aimee Gonzalez, 21, of Bronx, New York, after she attempted to use a stolen identity to purchase iPhones at a local Verizon Wireless store.
The follow-up investigation conducted by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office White Collar Crimes Unit and the Closter Police Detective Bureau uncovered evidence which indicated that Gonzalez was a member of an organized identity theft ring which was in possession of numerous stolen identities and which was responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent cellphone purchases. The purchases occurred using the stolen identities at stores in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The co-conspirators identified during the course of this investigation were each charged with conspiracy to traffic in the personal identifying information of another.
The individuals arrested on February 5, 2016 were:
Aimee Gonzalez, 21, of Bronx, New York
Francisco Gonzalez, 23, of Bronx, New York
Carmen Anglero, 44, of Bronx, New York.
During the course of the investigation the following individuals were identified as co-conspirators and were charged but are currently at large and wanted as fugitives:
Carlos Montero, 31, of Bronx, New York
Eury Garcia Sosa, 31, of Bronx, New York.
Each of the individuals identified played significant and varied roles in the criminal organization.
The investigation to date has revealed the following:
Aimee Gonzalez and Carmen Anglero impersonated victims and completed the illicit purchases.
Eury Garcia Sosa drove the illicit buyers to and from the Verizon Stores and was complicit in the identity theft and purchases.
Carlos Montero acted as an organizer and supplied the illicit buyers with the stolen identifications.
Francisco Gonzalez supplied the group with forged and fraudulent identification documents, including forged driver’s licenses and secondary forms of identification.
Aimee Gonzalez and Francisco Gonzalez were arrested in New York where they were charged as fugitives from justice and were lodged in local jails pending extradition hearings. Carmen Anglero is currently incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail in Pennsylvania, where a copy of her warrant was submitted as a detainer.