OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma City man was sentenced to a year and a half in federal prison for conspiracy to make false statements to a financial institution by means of a “synthetic identify theft” scheme.
A federal grand jury here returned a 12-count superseding indictment last July charging Tyrus Oates, 49, with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, false representation of a Social Security number, and conspiracy in connection with a synthetic identity theft scheme.
Synthetic identity theft occurs when an individual uses a combination of real and fake personal information to create a new identity, Western District U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester explained.
The indictment accused Oates of providing and selling credit profile numbers (CPNs), also known as credit privacy numbers or credit protection numbers. CPNs are usually stolen Social Security numbers, often belonging to children, which are marketed to individuals with poor credit history as a way to obtain credit cards, loans, and other lines of credit for which they would not otherwise qualify.
The indictment alleged that individuals used a credit profile number obtained from Oates, rather than their true Social Security number, on credit applications submitted to banks, credit unions, credit card issuers, retailers, and other lenders, to establish clean credit profiles separate from their true credit profiles. By doing so, the individuals concealed their true credit history from lenders.
Prosecutors accused Oates not only of providing and selling CPNs to others, but also facilitating the use of CPNs by adding the individuals, using their CPNs, as authorized users on his personal credit card, which helped the synthetic identities to establish credit history and appear creditworthy.
Oates pleaded guilty last September to conspiracy to make false statements to a financial institution. U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton sentenced Oates on April 26 to serve 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Oates also must pay $185,896.87 in restitution to Conn’s Home Plus, a retailer defrauded by the scheme. The government agreed to dismiss the other charges against him pursuant to a plea agreement.
Oates must report to federal prison on June 1.
The case arose from an investigation by the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Oklahoma City Field Office, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.