'This Wasn't Me': Justice for Lawyer Whose Identity Was Stolen?
"I have people call me up to scream at me, and they won't listen to me," attorney Frank C. White Jr. said. "It's a mess. But this is what criminals do. They don't care. ... They've injured other people using my name."
November 13, 2024 at 05:03 PM
3 minute read
Multiple conspirators were indicted in U.S. District Court in Connecticut after they allegedly stole the identities of three attorneys to defraud time-share owners. They are expected to plead guilty on Nov. 19, court documents suggest.
One of their alleged victims is Connecticut attorney Frank C. White Jr.
Before any potential defendants were known, White filed a lawsuit against the Frank Charles White Law Offices, the name of the fake firm on the fraudulent website, and two John Does in 2020 in state court.
In September, the Connecticut Appellate Court determined that White was entitled to treble damages of $450,000.
White did not respond by press time to a request for comment.
But in an interview in September with the Connecticut Law Tribune, White said he was aware of an arrest in his case, but unsure if it would lead to a recovery, or any accountability for the theft.
The defendants allegedly reside in Mexico. One's name is redacted in court documents and the other is listed as Shadia Melissa Aguilar Sarmiento. They were indicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Thomas Carson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Conencticut, declined to comment on the case against the defendants.
The indictment said the defendants worked together to defraud time-share owners of thousands of dollars.
As part of the scam, a target would receive an offer from a company to purchase a time-share. The alleged conspirators would then reach out to the victim by impersonating an attorney or law firm employee. They would then convince the victim to sign a contract to buy the time-share.
Then, the defendants allegedly pretended to be from the Mexican government requesting miscellaneous payments to complete the sale through a wire transfer. The time-share owners allegedly did not receive the sale proceeds because the "sale that had been represented was false and fictitious and such sale did not occur and would not occur as had been represented," the indictment claimed.
Counsel for the defendnats, Josh B. Ewing, a federal public defender in Connecticut, did not respond to a request for comment.
The three attorneys are not named in the indictment, but White filed a motion on Nov. 6 in his civil case against the alleged conspirators to add a new party, Sarmiento, to the case.
While this new development could lead to a recovery of the judgment, White said in September that his goal wasn't about the money, but a way to "tell the world this wasn't me."
"The more you talk about it, the more you think about it, the worse it gets," White said. "Having to explain it to [potential clients], some people just don't want anything to do with it and they … look for somebody else."
White also said he feels guilt by association for the individuals who were defrauded in this scheme. White said he also sometimes receives backlash from people who lost money, and they aren't receptive when he explains the situation.
"I have people call me up to scream at me, and they won't listen to me," White said. "It's a mess. But this is what criminals do. They don't care. … They've injured other people using my name."
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