Police Seize 3 Suspects in Forgery Ring

In one of its biggest seizures involving counterfeit identification, Los Angeles police have arrested three suspects in what they described as a statewide forgery ring that may have stolen more than $2 million from Los Angeles-area banks.

Police had made earlier arrests in the case, but Wednesday was the first time they were able to locate so many of the bogus documents allegedly used in the scam and the equipment used to produce them, officials said. At four Los Angeles County homes--in Lennox, Hawthorne, the Wilshire district and southwestern Los Angeles--authorities found thousands of stolen and counterfeit identification cards, police said.

“It’s a very, very sophisticated, effective forgery ring,” Los Angeles Police Detective Pat Riley said. “They were able, with ease, to withdraw lots of money and the only time the bank (account) holder would know was at the end of the month when he looked at his bank statement. We figure they stole millions of dollars.”

As part of the scheme, the suspects allegedly mass-produced fake driver’s licenses, credit cards, Social Security cards and other picture identification, then used the bogus materials to withdraw millions of dollars from other people’s accounts at banks throughout the state, Riley said.

Police are not certain how members of the ring got enough information about existing bank accounts to pull off the scam, but they suspect that they had access to bank signature cards and carbons from credit card receipts. Police have not said how many banks are involved or whether any bank employees participated in the ring.

“Last year, the city of Los Angeles reported over $20 million lost (in bank forgeries). This group here was responsible for a good percentage of it--possibly 10% or more,” Riley said.

Because of the large number of forgeries, police in August began an intensive investigation into the problem. That has led to 13 arrests--including the three early Wednesday when Lonnie Jackson, 42, Cornelius (Connie) Albert, 44, and Adrianne Crea, 43, were taken into custody.

Among the items found Wednesday was a stack of fake IDs, showing photos of 40 people who allegedly worked with the suspects in forging bank forms, Riley said.

At one home, police found thousands of dollars worth of counterfeiting equipment, including camera equipment, sheets of paper that were used to practice signatures, stacks of used and unused bank checks and a list of banks “to hit,” Riley said.

Police have linked this counterfeit operation to forgery rings in the Bay Area and Orange County and believe that the suspects have out-of-state contacts in Minnesota, Nevada and Arizona, Detective David Hudson said.