Man tells police of identity-theft scheme
He says he’s been involved for three years in scheme.
WEST PALM BEACH — A Miami man last month tried to withdraw $7,000 from a bank account that didn’t belong to him as part of a scheme he said he’d been involved in for three years, city police said.
Mario Hernandez, 53, was arrested following an incident at a Bank of America branch in the city’s south end. He is charged with altering a public record certificate, passing a forged instrument, creating a fictitious ID, possessing the ID of another person without consent, and using the ID of another person without consent to obtain money in an amount over $7,500.
Hernandez was released from the Palm Beach County Jail on June 1 after posting a $30,000 bond. The state is expected to file charges against Hernandez in a hearing on July 6.
According to a city police report, Hernandez on May 30 told a teller at a Bank of America branch on Dixie Highway that he needed the money for home repairs. He initially swiped a temporary debit card and provided a driver’s license for a 79-year-old man with Hernandez’s picture on it.
The teller then asked Hernandez to sign a withdrawal slip and to provide the Social Security number for the account. After she asked Hernandez to wait while she confirmed the information, he became flustered and walked out, leaving the license and debit card, according to the report.
Police officers contacted the man Hernandez was purporting to be, and said he was distraught and could not answer the account verification questions. The man’s wife, listed as the secondary number on the account, could not answer the account verification questions either. According to the report, all of the man’s accounts are likely compromised.
When police contacted Hernandez, he said he has been conducting the withdrawal scheme for three years. He said he works for two brothers in their early to mid-30s, and usually gets a $1,000 cut from the money they withdraw.
According to Palm Beach County court records, no one else had been arrested in connection with Hernandez’s case as of Wednesday.
Hernandez said the men usually drop him off at a bank, equipped with all of the victim’s information, as well as the account holder’s driver’s license with Hernandez’s picture.