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41-year old Nigerian national was sentenced to 16 months is US state prison for his role in an identity theft scam that defrauded at least 750 people.
41-year old Nigerian national was sentenced to 16 months is US state prison for his role in an identity theft scam that defrauded at least 750 people.
Olatunji Oluwatosin pleaded no contest and entered the plea to a single count of unlawful use of personal identification, according to court documents. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Paul Enright gave Oluwatosin credit for 180 days served in custody. Five other counts, which included making false financial statements, against Oluwatosin were dropped. Investigators said they expected to make more arrests in the identity theft case.
Data mining company ChoicePoint discovered the crime in October and closed the suspect accounts, restricted access and informed law enforcement agencies. ChoicePoint, which claims to have compiled the deepest database in the US, said it plans to inform about 110,000 consumers outside California whose information may have been accessed in the criminal scheme.
The company has already told some 35,000 California residents that their personal data, including their names, addresses and Social Security numbers, were stolen. According to a spokesperson at ChoicePoint, the company decided to expand its warnings after learning from the Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators that the fraud ring appeared to be a national operation.
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