many of whom are Nigerians living on Staten Island -- have been arrested in connection with a multimillion dollar identity theft ring that victimized 60 people, included more than a dozens soldiers who were preyed upon while on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the victims were more than a dozen Staten Island residents, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and District Attorney Daniel Donovan announced during a press conference at NYPD headquarters in Manhattan today.
Twenty-seven banks in total, including several on the Island, were also defrauded as part of the scheme.
The suspects would gain information on their victims by stealing mail around Staten Island, authorities said. They allegedly used that information to open credit cards and steal money from home equity line of credit accounts.
The group would also obtain Social Security information and other dealing about victims around the country, according to authorities.
All in all, the suspects may have stolen as much as $5 million in the scheme, officials estimated. Aside from the dozen borough residents, other victims lived in Manhattan, Westchester, Philadelphia, Atlanta, North Carolina, and the soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas.
The organization was known as "Bro" -- an acronym based on the first letter in the last name of its three key players, officials said today.
Those three main suspects were: Kazeem Badru, 38, of the 200 block of Osgood Avenue in Stapleton; Ganiu Rilwan, 46, of the 200 block of Park Hill Avenue, Clifton; and Okoronkwo Okechukwu, 32, of Parkview Loop in Graniteville.
Most of the suspects were natives of Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia.
There were 18 alleged key players in the scheme -- of them, 16 face a top count of enterprise corruption, a Class D felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison. The other two face grand larceny charges.
THIS ARE THE LIST OF THE NAMES.
* Kelechi Ekweigh, 31, of the 200 block of Maple Parkway in Mariners Harbor
* Kanayo Unokiwe, 30, of Trantor Place in Elm Park
* Ayodele Rosiji, 21, of Queens
* George Brew, 31, of Philadelphia
* Samuel Montgomery, 29, of Philadelphia
* Ishameel Lawandi, 29, of the 200 block of Park Hill Avenue in Clifton
* Kolawole Adeolike of Arlington Avenue in Mariners Harbor (date of birth unknown)
* Corey Mills, 20, of the 200 block of Park Hill Avenue in Clifton
* John Doe #1
* Alexias S. Cartews, 32, of East Orange, N.J.
* Kevin Marshall, 29, of the Bronx
* John Doe #2
* Jane Doe #1
* Ethel Jones, 25, of Greensboro, N.C
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