Madigan announces charges in Chicago Identity Theft Schemes

CHICAGO, IL – Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced charges against six Chicago area people for criminal identity theft enterprises that amassed nearly $300,000 in fraudulent charges.

“Identity theft is a serious crime that has lasting consequences, both for the perpetrators, who will face time behind bars, and for their victims, who will spend years trying to rebuild their financial security,” Madigan said. 

In the first case, defendants Frederick Jones, 27; Clarissa M. McGlothin, 32; Tennineil D. Smith, 36; and Danielle Glaze, 31, were arraigned today in Cook County Criminal Court on a multi-count indictment of Class X identity theft and Class 1 financial institutions fraud. A fifth defendant, Delonda Glaze, 31, who is Danielle’s twin sister and previously was charged by Madigan’s office in a separate identity theft case, was also arraigned today on new charges of Class X identity theft for her part in the scheme.

Madigan alleged the five defendants conspired in a scheme that used stolen identities to take out phony vehicle loans through a number of banks. After receiving individual checks for as much as $40,000 each, the defendants deposited the sums into a bank account controlled collectively by them for personal use. In total, Madigan alleged that the defendants obtained $252,900 through six fraudulent car loans in the scheme. The defendants face anywhere from six to 30 years in prison.

In a separate, unrelated case, Madigan announced identity theft charges against defendant Isabella Nartey, 30, of Oak Forest, for using stolen identification to illegally transfer $40,500 from a victim’s bank account. Nartey first transferred the funds into an E-trade account she controlled and then moved the money again into her own personal bank account for personal use. Nartey was arraigned last week in Cook County Criminal Court on identity theft, financial institution fraud and wire fraud charges. She faces four to 15 years in prison.

The case against the first five defendants was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the sixth by the U.S. Secret Service and referred to Madigan’s office for prosecution. Assistant Attorneys General Anshuman Vaidya and Paul Bervid are handling the cases for Madigan’s Financial Crimes Bureau.