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Five Tucsonans accused of identity theft, bank fraud
08:16 PM MST on Thursday, September 20, 2007
Five Tucson individuals face up to 30 years behind bars after being indicted on multiple charges involving identity theft and bank fraud.
A 30-count indictment was unsealed on September 20, in which three former employees of Arizona Honda are accused of theft of personal identifying information of individuals, the creation of counterfeit and unauthorized access devices using the stole information, and the use of personal information to commit bank and credit card fraud.
According to a media release, Anthony Blas Rivera, Michael De La Rosa and Joshua Damian Luna were salesmen at Arizona Honda. They are accused of using information provided by potential customers, including name, date of birth and social security number, to unlawfully apply for and obtain credit cards.
Diana Lizabeth Teran is also named as a co-defendant. She is also accused of using the fraudulently-issued credit cards to make purchases in and around Tucson, transferring funds to pay off other fraudulent credit cards and transferring funds into her personal bank account.
Also charged in the indictment is Carlos Alberto Banchs, former manager of Whitehall Jewelry in the Tucson Mall. He is also Rivera’s brother-in-law.
The media release indicates Banchs submitted a credit application to Whitehall Jewelry using information from a customer of Arizona Honda. He allegedly approved the issuance of the credit card knowing it was actually submitted by Rivera, who later purchased $5,400 in jewelry from the store.
Rivera and De La Rosa were arrested on September 18 while Luna was apprehended the following day. All three defendants have made their initial court appearance. Banchs and Teran remain at large.
Fox 11 News was told that the actions of the employees were quickly identified by management and the employees were terminated from the company in January.
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