EASTON, Pa. — Three Bethlehem residents have been arrested on a slew of charges related to a fraud scheme that has impacted more than 130 victims across the Lehigh Valley, state and surrounding area.
The accused specialized in identify theft and counterfeit checks, prosecutors said at a press conference Tuesday.
The Northampton County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday announced suspects Francisco Rodriguez-Ayala, Melissa Ramos and Giovanni Guridy had been arrested on Feb. 10 by city police.
Each of the three face 655 charges:
- Forgery, 128 counts
- Conspiracy-forgery, 128 counts
- Identity theft, 103 counts
- Conspiracy-identity theft, 103 counts
- Receiving stolen property, 79 counts
- Conspiracy-receiving stolen property, 79 counts
- Access device fraud, 15 counts
- Conspiracy-access device fraud, 15 counts
- Criminal use of communication facility, two counts
- Possession of an instrument of crime, one count
- Conspiracy-possession of an instrument of crime, one count
- Dealing in unlawful proceeds, one count
All three individuals are currently incarcerated at Northampton County Prison, officials said.
Guridy and Ramos have bail set at $500,000; Rodriguez-Ayala was remanded without bail.
An initial scheduling for a preliminary hearing on the charges is set for Friday at Northampton County Courthouse.
'Mountain of evidence'
Authorities are working with a “mountain of physical evidence,” according to Bethlehem Police Det. Daniel Kennedy, who’s also serving as the police prosecutor and lead investigator of the case.
"Those people are real people, oftentimes living in the Lehigh Valley."Bethlehem Police Det. Daniel Kennedy, on who was affected by a major fraud scheme in the area
“In the process of counterfeiting checks, they would put a name on the check of somebody whose identity they had stolen — those people are real people, oftentimes living in the Lehigh Valley,” Kennedy said.
“And because those checks then would come back to the banks or the cashing parties as being forged or being counterfeit, they would file a subsequent police report and list, then, the names of our victims as suspects, which obviously they don’t even know sometimes that their identities were stolen, let alone used for nefarious purposes like that.”
With cases dating back to three or four years ago, Kennedy said, many of the victims didn’t realize they had been victimized in the first place.
Used to make purchases across state, surrounding area
Kennedy said the charges originate from a separate matter involving a city police drug unit serving a warrant at the trio’s shared residence at 1224 Hilton St. in Northeast Bethlehem.
While personnel were on site, they found the variety of stolen documents, such as driver’s licenses, licenses to carry firearms, military identification cards, passports, learner’s permits, credit cards, Social Security cards and many phony checks.
“Police also located a notebook filled with names, dates of birth and social security numbers, and evidence to support stolen identities being used to create fraudulent accounts to make purchases across the Commonwealth."Northampton County District Attorney's Office, on a major fraud scheme investigation
“Police also located a notebook filled with names, dates of birth and social security numbers, and evidence to support stolen identities being used to create fraudulent accounts to make purchases across the Commonwealth,” a press release from the District Attorney's office stated.
Kennedy wasn’t able to provide case specifics related to the other investigation involving the vice drug unit.
He also said he understood each of the charged individuals to be confirmed U.S. citizens.
If you believe you’ve been a victim of such a fraud scheme, Bethlehem police ask you to call 610-997-7682.
