Stolen Card Rings Up a Big Phone Bill for City : Theft: More than $1,000 in unauthorized calls were made using the number that Carson issued to Mayor Michael I. Mitoma.

Someone has reached out and touched Carson for more than $1,000 in unauthorized calls charged to Mayor Michael I. Mitoma’s city-issued telephone credit card, according to city records.

The card is believed to have been stolen in February, but neither city officials nor the mayor was made aware of the unauthorized calls to such places as Algeria, Hawaii and Macao until three weeks ago, officials said.

City Council members are issued a telephone credit card for use in the course of city business. They are required to account for all charges every month and are held liable for unauthorized use, according to city guidelines.

Finance Director Lorraine Oten said 680 calls were improperly charged to Mitoma’s card between February and April. The extent of the calls came to light after an inquiry by The Times.

The mayor this week denied any knowledge of the unauthorized charges. He said his wallet containing the card and personal identification had been stolen, but he could not recall when the theft occurred.

“I haven’t the foggiest idea what the charges are on that,” Mitoma said of the phone bills. He said that he never reviews his phone bill, which is routinely paid by the city.

Based upon the number and frequency of the unauthorized calls, Oten speculated that the calling card number was probably distributed to a network of individuals. The card number has been canceled and Mitoma has been issued a new one, Oten said.

“If it was one person, that individual would have had to have been on the phone continuously all day,” Oten said.

Nevertheless, Oten said she does not know how many of the calls during that three-month period were actually made by Mitoma. The mayor’s monthly charges averaged $30 over the past year, Oten said.

“A $900 phone bill on one statement was definitely unusual,” Oten said. “When my staff saw that, they should have brought it to the attention of a supervisor.”

Residents at the six most frequently called numbers on Mitoma’s account said they did not know the mayor or have any knowledge of unauthorized calls. One woman, who declined to give her name, attributed the calls made to her home to “crank callers who hung up when I answered.”

Pacific Bell and the long-distance telephone companies that posted the unauthorized charges are attempting to trace the callers, Oten said. Pacific Bell has agreed to give Carson a credit or a refund for those charges, which the city has already paid, Oten said.

Most of the unauthorized calls were placed from Alhambra, though the exact location could not be determined from the telephone bills. Calls were also made to cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, as well as locations across the United States, according to the monthly bills.

Mitoma said he filed a report of the theft of his wallet with the Carson sheriff’s station, but authorities said there was no record of such a complaint on their computer system. However, Sgt. Robert McPherson said it was possible such a report had not yet been entered into the computer.