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A Nigerian national pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy and grand theft involving identity theft that authorities say was accomplished by accessing personal information stolen from consumer data collector ChoicePoint Inc.
A Nigerian national pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy and grand theft involving identity theft that authorities say was accomplished by accessing personal information stolen from consumer data collector ChoicePoint Inc.
Olatunji Oluwatosin, 42, of North Hollywood, was indicted by a grand jury in August on 22 counts of identity theft, conspiracy, grand theft and credit card fraud.
Oluwatosin is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 10 by Superior Court Judge Bob Bowers Jr.
At the time of his indictment, prosecutors said the scheme cost at least $4 million in damages and involved 16 victims and five banks or credit card companies.
Alpharetta, Ga.-based ChoicePoint Inc. in February disclosed that thieves posing as small business customers gained access to its database and possibly compromised the personal information of 145,000 people. The company discovered the breach in September 2004 and an investigation led to Oluwatosin's arrest the next month.
Oluwatosin pleaded no contest in February to one felony count of identity theft and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. He then was charged in a later indictment.
The scheme involved ``unknown conspirators'' who opened mail drops and business accounts with ChoicePoint to access its database. Oluwatosin allegedly made payments on some of the ChoicePoint accounts and had keys for some of the fictitious businesses' mailboxes. Investigators also found cell phone and three credit cards