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BOUNTIFUL — Three men have been arrested and accused of running an elaborate forgery and fraud scheme that appeared to prey on homeless people.
“There are roughly 30 victims in this case that have been defrauded or had their identities stolen. (The suspects) are consistently conducting this criminal behavior throughout northern Utah,” investigators wrote in a police affidavit.
Djimy Okutennde, 33, Martin Bokanga, 50, and Lateek Ramon Leonard, 41, were each arrested for investigation of 10 counts of identity fraud, 10 counts of communications fraud, and 10 counts of forgery.
The three were also arrested for investigation of possession of another person’s identifying documents.
The investigation began when employees of a FedEx Office and Print store in Bountiful reported that a group of men had been coming into their store and acting suspiciously. Officers arrived at the store and questioned the three suspects who were with a fourth man.
“I immediately became suspicious of the circumstances behind this case as none of the males were providing information of how they met the (fourth) male,” the affidavit states.
When the fourth man was questioned separately, he “broke down and told me that he didn’t know these males and that they just picked him up near 1300 S. West Temple in Salt Lake City,” according to the affidavit.
The three suspects promised the victim he could make between $1,000 and $2,000 if he had a Utah identification card, police say.
The men then went to the FedEx store where they used the victim’s ID to print a fraudulent pay stub, according to the affidavit.
“They used all of (the victim’s) personal identification information on the pay stub,” police wrote in the report.
In addition to the fake pay stub, the group also printed bank account information in the victim’s name that was also assumed to be fake, the affidavit states.
“It is a common occurrence for individuals conducting fraudulent activity to pick up a homeless person and to use them to cash fraudulent checks or conduct credit card fraud based on my training and experience,” police wrote.
Detectives then searched the suspects’ two vehicles parked outside the store and found “roughly 30 third-party victims for possible identity theft, possession of another’s identity, fraud, forgery,” the affidavit states.
All three men were taken to the Bountiful Police Department for further questioning. Okutennde told detectives that a person named “Sly” locates victims, and then Okutennde and the others pick up the victims, and make sure “they have the information needed to apply for a loan at any payday loan business,” the affidavit states.
The men would take victims to the FedEx store to print fake pay stubs and bank account information, and then use that information to make the victim apply for a loan at loan business store, according to the affidavit.
“That money would be split between all parties involved. (The victim) would get the smallest amount and would have the negative credit history when the loan was not paid back. Djimy told me he has done this type of criminal activity for the previous year and had estimated roughly 20 times of doing this with people he does not know,” the affidavit states.
