Gigolo fraudster convicted of stealing up to $3M

A Philadelphia man was convicted Monday of organizing an identify theft ring that stole up to $3 million, in part by persuading female bank tellers to slip him customer account information.

Miguel Bell, 36, was convicted in U.S. District Court of bank fraud and identify theft. He had affairs with "many" female tellers as part of a scam that typically used the information to generate bogus checks, according to prosecutors.

He will be sentenced in September.

A total of 24 people have been charged in connection with the thefts. Most pleaded guilty. Prosecutors originally believed the thefts only involved up to $1 million, but at trial said evidence supported the higher figure.

Dozens of accounts at eight banks were compromised. At Citizens Bank, one teller was accused of providing information on 37 customers, which allowed Bell and his accomplices to "acquire and attempt to acquire" $390,000, according to the indictment.

The banks have reimbursed customers, prosecutors said. The case was tried by Assistant U.S. Attorney K.T. Newton.

The investigation dates to 2006, when police in Lower Providence and Deptford made arrests for fraudulent checks.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Secret Service and Philadelphia police also were involved in the investigation. Identify-theft cases have prompted local law enforcement to establish a regional task force.

Other banks targeted were PNC, M&T, Provident, SunTrust, Commerce, Sovereign, and Wachovia.

The stolen information included Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, account data, and other personal information used to generate fake driver's licenses and fraudulent checks.

Bell and his alleged accomplices recruited "check runners" to pass the fraudulent checks, authorities said. The organizers would collect the money and allow the runner to keep a small amount; many of the runners were drug addicts, officials said.