A Florida man accused of unlawfully acquiring businesses by looking up delinquent firms on the Colorado secretary of state’s website and submitting false documents to buy them has been indicted by the Colorado State Grand Jury.
The man, John Parks, 36, is accused of submitting false documents to the secretary of state’s office to acquire 12 businesses.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
Once he found the businesses, Parks then allegedly used his name and the identities of others to submit unauthorized statements curing delinquency and acquired the delinquent businesses by paying a fee and changing the business address and/or the registered agent information.
In some instances, Parks submitted false information to Dun & Bradstreet to increase the creditworthiness of the businesses.
Once the businesses were acquired, they were sold to third parties, according to the indictment.
Parks is accused of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, as well as theft, multiple counts of identity theft, forgery and defrauding a secured creditor.
“Close coordination between Colorado’s state agencies is what exposed this scheme,” said Chief Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Coffman. “While many think of identity theft as a consumer issue, this case exemplifies that businesses are not immune to this crime and need to do their part to stay safe.”
The indictment alleges that the scheme began in February 2011 and ran through April 2012.
Also indicted was another Florida man, Daryl Honowitz, 42, who with Parks was accused of a lease-back scheme. Honowitz was indicted for theft and defrauding a secured creditor.
Parks and Honowitz were arrested in Florida and will be extradited to Colorado.
Their indictment was based on an 18-month investigation conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the offices of the Colorado attorney general and secretary of state.
Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said state residents can safeguard their business filings through e-mail notification for unauthorized changes and password protection.
“For those criminals who slip past, my office will continue to work aggressively and cooperatively with Colorado’s law enforcement community to track them down,” said Gessler.
The attorney general’s office said businesses in the state should take advantage of the security features offered by the secretary of state’s office and encouraged them to sign up for password protection and e-mail notifications to protect against identity thieves.
