2 Arrested in Theft of DMV, Credit Data by Alleged Ring

Investigators for the state Department of Motor Vehicles have broken up what is being called a ring of private investigators who allegedly acquired information on individuals by gaining access to DMV records.

The ring also made more than $35,000 in long-distance telephone calls using stolen access codes and may have obtained confidential information from TRW credit reports, investigators allege.

Arrested and charged with violating state computer fraud statutes were Gary L. Taran, 44, of Beverly Hills and John Hall, 38, of Canoga Park. Officers seized brochures and business cards identifying the suspects as private investigators.

“This could be just the tip of an iceberg,” said Gary Naylor, senior investigator for the Department of Motor Vehicles, who said he and other investigators are examining evidence that points to more extensive participation in the alleged scheme. A telephone company investigator, Marie Bowen, said there are “a lot more players . . . all involved in private investigation activities.”

Investigators said Taran and Hall apparently were practicing private investigators and that each had previously applied for a private investigator’s license. State officials said neither man was ever licensed.

The two arrests culminated several months of investigation conducted jointly by the Department of Motor Vehicles and security officials at TRW Information Services in Orange County and U.S. Americall, a small, San Fernando Valley-based company that provides long-distance telephone service.

According to investigators, suspected participants in the scheme posed as agents of various law enforcement agencies and as a representative of the Los Angeles Consumer Affairs Office to get information from the department. They also posed as bank executives to obtain secret TRW access codes, the investigators said.

Rash of Complaints

The investigation began about nine months ago, after U.S. Americall received a rash of complaints from customers billed for calls they did not make. Bowen, director of security for the Sherman Oaks phone company, found that many of the calls were made to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento and to TRW offices in Orange.

She said more than $35,000 in fraudulent calls were made over a 12-month period and that the calls were made to law offices, the possible customers of private investigators, as well as to the Department of Motor Vehicles and TRW.

Roger Braham, senior security investigator for TRW, said, “We know that some phone calls were made to TRW, but we’re still checking to determine if they got any credit reports and how many.”

According to investigators, participants in the alleged scheme posed as bank presidents in phone calls to subordinate officials “at seven or eight different banks” to obtain secret TRW access codes. Armed with the codes, they could request verbal credit reports over the phone from TRW. That information typically could include employment histories, details on personal assets and home addresses, in addition to credit histories, they said.

Geri Schanz, a spokeswoman for TRW, said the company will alter its verbal credit service on Jan. 31 to limit the information that can be obtained over the phone.

Cecil Erwin, head of the Department of Motor Vehicle’s investigative division in Los Angeles, said the state agency’s massive computer system--”probably one of the largest in the Free World”--contains personal information, including home addresses and car ownership details, involving more than 35 million licensed drivers and registered automobiles.

Erwin said the information is available for a fee to the public, “if someone has a legitimate reason for it.” However, the information is not routinely available to private investigators, he said.

He said the arrests of Taran and Hall represent the first computer fraud case filed in Southern California by the DMV.