This is just so so so sad... UNBELEIVABLE!

4 arrested in ID-theft probe
Multiagency probe resulted in arrests in Westminster, Garden Grove and Midway City.
By DENISSE SALAZAR
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Four people suspected to be part of an identity-theft ring in Orange County were arrested in Westminster, Garden Grove and Midway City earlier today, Santa Ana Police Department spokesman Baltazar De La Riva said.

"We are looking for one more suspect," De La Riva said.

Officials have not yet released the names of the four who were arrested.

A multiagency investigation, including the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police departments, stemmed from a report of identity theft made in March 2006.

Police suspect a ring is responsible for more than 90 incidents resulting in the fraudulent purchase of about $250,000 in merchandise from high-end department stores and other businesses, De La Riva said.

The merchandise ranged from Louis Vuitton purses to a Lexus suspension that cost several thousand dollars. The identify theft ring preferred high-end department stores such as Nordstrom, Macy's and Nieman Marcus, De La Riva said.

Police confiscated several articles of clothing with tags still attached in a home in Westminster and confiscated a Lexus.

The 10-month investigation resulted after the Santa Ana Police Department was contacted by Nieman Marcus to report a suspect who appeared to be involved in identity theft through the use of fraudulent credit cards.

Santa Ana police investigators identified the suspect, who had ordered more than $15,000 in merchandise from a Nieman Marcus in San Francisco and requested to have the merchandise delivered to a Santa Ana residence.

Undercover officers delivered merchandise to the Santa Ana residence and arrested several people, who were released pending further investigation.

Investigators identified more victims of identity theft in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, which lead to the multiagency operation.

Police served five search warrants resulting in the arrest of four suspects, including one juvenile. Some of the suspects are related, De La Riva said.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3709 or [email]desalazar@ocregister.com[/email]


Source: [url]www.ocregister.com[/url]

this is one... i don't know what to say... i've seen this car in person and the person who owns it (well i'm not sure now!)... even had a chat with him - i just couldn't beleive it...

Oh snap i saw this on the news, but didn't see anything to do with the lexus.

Shit i'm going to start searching government auctions for that muthafuc#$ right there. 

Dont' do the crime if you can't do the time.

Still got a bunch of my boys locked up, and i learned from that to not mess with the 5-0.

Is the car up for auction haha

Damn-sure was a beauty. Someone in an auction is gonna be lucky to buy that.


That white cop is looking at it thinking...
[i]"Golly... so that's what a Lexus suspension that cost several thousand dollars looks like."[/i]

damn hate to see that happen to someone. that is a prime example why i hit my 9-5 everyday to get what i want for my ride.

Cause at the end of the day; all the doughtnut eaters can do is pass me by and admire my honest hard work. they HATE that here in texas!!

haha, anyone who's ever been on the wrong side of the law (ie: selling drugs, stealing whatever, etc) can appreciate what it feels like to buy something of your own hard earned money.

[QUOTE=gmckey;40662]haha, anyone who's ever been on the wrong side of the law (ie: selling drugs, stealing whatever, etc) can appreciate what it feels like to buy something of your own hard earned money.[/QUOTE]


you can say that again!!!

anyone got any more pics of the car itself? I remember seeing it at the autobacs meet, but have no pics.

yah, i remember seeing it too...

This might give the Vip crowd some un-needed attention though...
bad stuff indeed

[img]http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/hahajoey/VSC%20Meet/DSC01526.jpg[/img]

eww, black housed headlights... but props on the Q45 projector retro, enjoy it (from behind bars).

Damn thats crazy,you know the cops let him or her rack up charge after charge so they could stick it to them...car is very nice for sure too bad they wont be rollin...

KARMA!!! it happens

now the police have a reason to bother the VIP crowd. now they know we spend big money on little things. Betcha the projectors were stolen too. They are gonna be buggin us. thanks for the negative attention dude!

Seriously though, if you're going to do something like that at least do it on small charges. You swear like a $15,000 charge won't get you the attention. Nice LS though. Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the police but I'd worry more about the Feds giving the VIP crowd trouble. 
 
manila boy, are you a reporter? Those are some nice insider pics. haha

[QUOTE=mdenoga;40808]manila boy, are you a reporter? Those are some nice insider pics. haha[/QUOTE]

Those pics are on the web.....

Those guys bought high end items and sold for great deals to put $$$$ in thier pocket. Having something nice and it didnt cost you as much as if it were NEW is NOT GOOD. Im sure they gathered notes - emails and other info so for a while they will be tracking some folks to try to get some of the stuff back or if more are involved more arrests.

Hmmm cant afford VIP parts so they steal it...very nice. Must've been into Hondas and figured out it's too expensive to fix up a Lexus.  

Hahaha good ridance hope you rot in jail... it sucks to get your identity stolen.
But this is justice enough that they caught these lowlifes.

[url]http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1555134.php[/url]

[quote]
Four people suspected to be part of an identity-theft ring in Orange County were arrested in Westminster, Garden Grove and Midway City earlier today, Santa Ana Police Department spokesman Baltazar De La Riva said.

"We are looking for one more suspect," De La Riva said.

Officials have not yet released the names of the four who were arrested.

A multiagency investigation, including the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police departments, stemmed from a report of identity theft made in March 2006.

Police suspect a ring is responsible for more than 90 incidents resulting in the fraudulent purchase of about $250,000 in merchandise from high-end department stores and other businesses, De La Riva said.

The merchandise ranged from Louis Vuitton purses to a Lexus suspension that cost several thousand dollars. The identify theft ring preferred high-end department stores such as Nordstrom, Macy's and Nieman Marcus, De La Riva said.

Police confiscated several articles of clothing with tags still attached in a home in Westminster and confiscated a Lexus.

The 10-month investigation resulted after the Santa Ana Police Department was contacted by Nieman Marcus to report a suspect who appeared to be involved in identity theft through the use of fraudulent credit cards.

Santa Ana police investigators identified the suspect, who had ordered more than $15,000 in merchandise from a Nieman Marcus in San Francisco and requested to have the merchandise delivered to a Santa Ana residence.

Undercover officers delivered merchandise to the Santa Ana residence and arrested several people, who were released pending further investigation.

Investigators identified more victims of identity theft in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, which lead to the multiagency operation.

Police served five search warrants resulting in the arrest of four suspects, including one juvenile. Some of the suspects are related, De La Riva said.
[/quote]

[quote]
Outside his Westminster home, Johnny Tran sheds a tear in the back of a Santa Ana police car after being arrested for his part in the suspected crimes of an identity theft gang that rang up purchases of $248,267.22 on stolen credit cards.[/quote]

[img]http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/breaking_news/2007/01/25fraud2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/breaking_news/2007/01/25fraud3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/breaking_news/2007/01/25fraud9.jpg[/img]

crazy

one officer is checking out his offset while the other officer is checking out his female partner in crime who doesn't look so bad...from the side?

[img]http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/breaking_news/2007/01/25fraud8.jpg[/img]

I think the POs are trying to figure out how to lift that shiet up the floor. GANGSTA!!!

[QUOTE=m0nster986;40827]I think the POs are trying to figure out how to lift that shiet up the floor. GANGSTA!!![/QUOTE]

LOL

Swat came into my house!!!  disrespect my family!!

[QUOTE=PIMPALA-SS;40844]Swat came into my house!!!  disrespect my family!![/QUOTE]

Haha, I was just thinking that. More pics of the girl please. :)

Lol

[QUOTE=PIMPALA-SS;40844]Swat came into my house!!!  disrespect my family!![/QUOTE]

haha!
Nice, apparently I'm not the only one who thought of that too!

[QUOTE=firelizard;40968]haha!
Nice, apparently I'm not the only one who thought of that too![/QUOTE]


it just makes it 10x more funny that he has the same name as the character in F&F


[IMG]http://i16.tinypic.com/2nqtoqr.jpg[/IMG]


"I NEVER NARC'D ON NOBODY!!!!" 


HAHAHAHAHA

Rofl

[QUOTE=JDMJim;40802]now the police have a reason to bother the VIP crowd. now they know we spend big money on little things. Betcha the projectors were stolen too. They are gonna be buggin us. thanks for the negative attention dude![/QUOTE]

Ya I just another ticket tonight.... but its only 2 fix-it tickets thank god

Man thats crazy! i never even heard of this before. and i just came back from that area yesterday... I really wonder what happen to that car. that sucks...


... i dont like those head lights for some reason....

Wow... How embarassing.

LMAO at foolio's name really being Johnny Tran!!

[quote=PIMPALA-SS;40981][IMG]http://i16.tinypic.com/2nqtoqr.jpg[/IMG]
 
[/quote]
 
Nice! You forgot to add the shot where he "Johnny" gets b*tchslapped from his father.

Home made movie??? lol ***RL*** the Fast and the Furious.
must be poor to afford vipparts?

[QUOTE=m0nster986;40827]I think the POs are trying to figure out how to lift that shiet up the floor. GANGSTA!!![/QUOTE]

hahahah, werd

that dude definetly had a gas tank for a brain...

I can't believe nobody has done this yet...

[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Pongpagong/ownedhahaha.jpg[/IMG]

OH SHIT I went to School with that guy! I thought that car looked familiar, i saw it at a party a couple months back. He always had hooked up cars! DAMN Karma caught up to him HARD!

i live in the same area and seen his car all over the place..always thought those fools were loaded.. guess not!

wow what a story any updates ??

so who lives out in that area and has a dealer license...AUCTION! haha

Wow, isnt that F'd up when someone you thought you knew turns out to be a con-artist? It reminds me of this guy that I used to know via a local car club, Bill Walters aka NoMercy. He lived in a million dollar house and drove like 300-400K worth of cars. He told everyone he was a stock broker / day trader and everyone believed him because he had so much money. But it turns out his con was to meet rich people through high end car clubs and get them to 'invest' with him, then he would disappear. He would do it to multiple people at the same time, just move the money around to make people think they made a profit. Then after gaining trust he would convince them to 'invest' a large ammount. When he had enough large investments he took off. He did this in multiple states and there were lots of victims, including 70+ year old people that invested their entire life savings. It took a while for everyone to figgure out what happened, but eventually everyone involved got on the same page. The guy made off with what the FBI estimated was around 50 Million Dollars, this was like 2-3 years ago and the FBI still didnt catch him.

Just cant trust people these days ....

good ole pyramid scheme. sucks that it still works. you know what sucks more? scams from nigeria.

he made the best of it.

now he has to pay the time.

whoo, that was quite a bump. i never did hear about this though. its kind of a shocker coming from the vip community, even though the info's almost a year old :sad:

i love that projector headlight setup though. :thumbsup:

thats whats wrong with people these days.

They find a illegal way to make money, then they make ALOT of money. But they never stop and flip that money into a investment, but rather keep doing it the illegal way.

[quote=PIMPALA-SS;40981]it just makes it 10x more funny that he has the same name as the character in F&F
 
 
[IMG]http://i16.tinypic.com/2nqtoqr.jpg[/IMG]
 
 
"I NEVER NARC'D ON NOBODY!!!!" 
 
 
HAHAHAHAHA[/quote]
 
 
 
 
HAHA didnt even remember that...so old school

I actually know him and I use to make weekly trips up to santa ana to do business with this guy.
 
Just kidding.