Police in at least five Northeast Ohio communities are investigating clusters of identity theft victims who are neighbors and whose identities have been used to rack up charges across the country.
The Beacon Journal has confirmed 63 victims in Copley Township, Streetsboro, Montville Township and Berea. There may be additional victims in Avon, and authorities said they wouldn’t be surprised if there were more victims in other communities or nationwide, and that this is part of a large, sophisticated crime ring.
The only apparent connections the victims in the various communities have to each other is that they live in the same neighborhoods. In all communities but Montville Township, the residents live in houses built by Ryan Homes.
Most of the victims found their identities were being used fraudulently only when they began getting bills for credit cards they never opened. The amount of fraudulent goods stolen in people’s names generally ranges from a few thousand dollars up to $20,000. One victim has said her identity has been used to steal more than $40,000.
Authorities said Ryan Homes officials have been cooperating and conducting their own investigation to see if there might be any connection. Officials with Ryan Homes were not immediately available for comment.
“There’s a connection, obviously, because [of] the concentration in specific developments, but we have not been able to trace this down to one employee or one specific transaction or title company,” said Copley police Detective Joe Krunich, whose department has 16 victims in two Ryan Homes developments: Creekside and Hillside.
In some cases, the homeowners did not buy their home directly from Ryan, and in the case of the 18 victims in Montville Township, the victims are neighbors in two subdivisions where there were multiple builders and no Ryan Homes, said Sgt. Chris LaFond on the Montville Township Police Department.
Authorities said the cases are under investigation and developing.
In some instances, authorities did not know of other jurisdictions with similar problems until alerted by a reporter. Local law enforcement officials said they have forwarded their information to federal authorities in hopes they will pursue the case because crimes are occurring across state lines.
Check back with Ohio.com and the Beacon Journal for more details as the story develops.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisher and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.