6 charged in identity theft involving Bellevue firms

An identity-theft ring that had insiders at a Bellevue mortgage company and a Bellevue escrow company provide stolen customer information resulted in more than $335,000 in losses, according to federal-court filings disclosed Wednesday in Seattle.

Six people were indicted and charged with 13 counts of violating federal laws, including conspiracy to commit identity theft, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Financial information was stolen from dozens of individuals, and the conspirators were able to withdraw money from bank accounts and open charge accounts at stores, according to the indictment.

Two of the defendants, who were arrested Wednesday morning, made initial appearances in the afternoon in U.S. District Court.

A federal magistrate ordered Charles W. Griffin, 35, of Federal Way, and Bianca Bowler, 29, of Seattle, held for three days, setting arraignments for Monday.

The other four defendants are Juanita Booker, 35, of Seattle; Raynette Armstrong, 29, of Seattle; Gregory Kevin White, 39, of Seattle, and Lamont Jefferson, whose age and address were not available. White is in prison after being convicted in another fraud scheme. It was unclear Wednesday whether the other three were in custody or at large.

According to the charges, Griffin recruited Booker and Armstrong to help him set up the scheme.

Booker worked at a Bellevue mortgage company and Armstrong worked at a Bellevue escrow firm, the indictments state. Neither firm is identified, since they are considered victims of the scheme and victims are not routinely identified in federal filings; individuals whose identities were stolen are described only by their initials in the charges.

The thefts took place when Booker and Armstrong supplied Griffin with information from mortgage applications and other documents, according to the charges. Griffin then recruited other co-conspirators to make phony driver's licenses and other false credit documents.

The conspiracy involved detailed knowledge of the banking industry and other elaborate techniques, the indictment added, with the crimes beginning as much as five years ago and continuing through about December 2005.

The people whose IDs were stolen won't suffer any individual losses, said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa, with the costs normally covered by banks and other credit agencies.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com.