13 Charged In Massive Suffolk County Tax Fraud Scheme

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Thirteen people were charged on a 108-count indictment on Wednesday in connection to a massive tax fraud scheme and stealing over $1 million from financial institutions, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini.

Sini said the prosecution represents one of the first of its kind to target a new type of scheme in which people create fake identities and use them to defraud financial institutions out of millions of dollars, harming individual victims in the process.

"This is an extremely complex crime and it can be very difficult to identify the perpetrators, but the team who is investigating and prosecuting this case meticulously followed the evidence and unraveled this scheme, which has far-reaching impacts on everyday citizens," Sini said. "We will seek justice for all of the victims – both the financial institutions that have been defrauded and the individual victims whose identities were stolen by these criminals."

Sini announced the following people were arrested and charged in the scheme:

• Adam D. Arena, 43, of Corona, California, is charged with seven counts of second degree grand larceny; eight counts of third degree grand larceny; second degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; four counts of fourth degree money laundering; first degree scheme to defraud; and fifth degree conspiracy. Arena is alleged to have opened shell corporations and sold corporate tradelines to improve the credit profile score of the fake identities in this scheme.
• Charissa Baerga, 30, of Elmont, is charged with third-degree grand larceny; first-degree falsifying business records; and fifth-degree conspiracy.
• David Bouey, 60, of Shirley, is charged with third-degree grand larceny; second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; two counts of first-degree falsifying business records; and fifth-degree conspiracy.
• Daniel Delmoral, 55, of North Babylon, is charged with six counts of third-degree grand larceny; 10 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; 10 counts of first-degree falsifying business records; first-degree scheme to defraud; and fifth degree conspiracy.
• Bruce Evans, 44, of Bay Shore, is charged with three counts of third-degree grand larceny; second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; three counts of first-degree falsifying business records; first-degree scheme to defraud; and fifth-degree conspiracy.
• Charnell Morris a/k/a Charnell Solomon, 43, of Mastic Beach, is charged with second-degree grand larceny; third-degree grand larceny; second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; five counts of first-degree falsifying business records; first-degree scheme to defraud; and fifth degree conspiracy.
• Viki Osredkar, 35, of East Northport, is charged with two counts of third-degree grand larceny; two counts of first-degree falsifying business records; first-degree scheme to defraud; and fifth degree conspiracy.
• Elias Pagan, 45, of Central Islip, is charged with two counts of third-degree grand larceny; second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; two counts of first-degree falsifying business records; first-degree scheme to defraud; and fifth-degree conspiracy.
• Leonidas Rivera, 40, of Levittown, is charged with third-degree grand larceny; first-degree falsifying business records; and fifth-degree conspiracy.
• Patricia Schellas a/k/a Patricia Gallagher, 57, of Shirley, is charged with third-degree grand larceny; first-degree falsifying business records; and fifth-degree conspiracy.
• Tremayne Smith, 44, of Mastic, is charged with two counts of third-degree grand larceny and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; three counts of first-degree falsifying business records and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud, and one count of fifth-degree conspiracy.

Two remaining people are currently out of custody and are being actively pursued by law enforcement.

In addition, three corporations were charged with fourth-degree money laundering, according to Sini: GFS Auto Sales LLC, SBC Software LLC and ADA Auto Group.

If convicted of the top count, Arena and Morris each face a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison. If convicted of the top count, Baerga, Bouey, Delmoral, Evans, Osredkar, Pagan, Rivera, Smith and Schellas each face a maximum sentence of two to seven years in prison.

In August 2018, officials began an investigation into suspected identity fraud at several banks and credit unions on Long Island. The investigation revealed evidence that the 13 people allegedly created and used more than 20 fake identities in Suffolk County to fraudulently obtain loans and credit card accounts from 19 different financial institutions, the DA said.

Participants in the scheme would allegedly create fake identities by changing the name, address and date of birth of stolen Social Security numbers, which belonged to people with no existing credit history or those who were unlikely to be monitoring their credit history, such as children, recent immigrants, deceased individuals, elderly individuals, and incarcerated individuals, according to the DA.

The group allegedly took steps to then make the fake identities appear legitimate, including applying for phone accounts, email accounts, rewards card accounts, library cards, and other accounts with minimal verification requirements. One of the perpetrators of this scheme would also allegedly insert the fake identities into public databases that are used by financial institutions to verify identity information in order to further legitimize the fake identities.

The group then allegedly took several steps to fraudulently build credit for the fake identities, including adding the fake identities as authorized users on an existing person's credit card, the DA said.

As part of the scheme, Arena allegedly created shell corporations that then falsely reported the fake identities to the credit reporting agencies as though they were customers of the corporations, Sini said. This provided the fake identities with corporate tradelines that further boosted their credit ratings. Arena is alleged to have fraudulently backdated the information to make it appear as though the fake identities had good credit histories over the course of several years.

Once the fake identities accumulated positive credit reports, participants in the scheme are alleged to have fraudulently obtained loans and credit card accounts from financial institutions using those fake identities.

The investigation is ongoing. District Attorney Sini and Commissioner Hart urge representatives of any financial institutions or any individuals who believe they are a victim of this scheme to call the Suffolk County Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit at 631-852-6821.