Dead People’s Names Used in Credit Scams

It doesn’t exactly rank with the plot of “Night of the Living Dead,” but police said Wednesday that dozens of the deceased may have been on illegal shopping and check-cashing sprees in the San Fernando Valley.

Or at least the names of the dead were being used on the sprees--until two bounty hunters inadvertently shut down a credit fraud ring.

Three men were arrested Monday in Reseda after the bounty hunters stumbled onto an “identification mill” while tracking one of the men. Los Angeles police officers called to the scene found nearly 100 credit cards, checkbooks and driver’s licenses along with equipment used in making phony identification.

Also found in the house in the 7300 block of Zelzah Avenue was a list of names along with birth and death dates, an indication that the names of dead people were used on identification cards and to apply for credit cards or cash checks.

“They apparently went to a cemetery to get names and dates to use,” Detective Robert Graybill said of the suspects.

Police said Richard Sanders, 37, was arrested on suspicion of forgery, while two others, Leo Anderson, 35, and Amal Parker, 23, were arrested on suspicion of auto theft.

The arrests came after two state-contracted bounty hunters tracked down Anderson, who was wanted for parole violation and a $50,000 warrant in connection with a Pasadena burglary, Graybill said. After police were called to the scene, Anderson and Parker arrived at the house in stolen cars and were arrested, he said.