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An Oahu grand jury indicted today the alleged leader of an identity theft ring that is accused of using personal information of 145 Oahu residents to generate fraudulent credit cards and steal $195,000.
Pyong Pak was indicted on 78 counts of identity theft-related charges, city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said in a news release.
Investigators say Pyong Pak led a five-man ring that produced high-quality fake IDs, credit cards and checks using information gleaned through methods such as burglaries and auto thefts.
Pak’s co-conspirators were previously indicted on similar charges. The five men face a total of 304 identity theft-related charges.
Today’s indictment alleges the men used personal information of 145 Oahu residents to obtain $195,000 from May 1, 2010, to Oct. 27, 2010.
Randy Garcia was indicted on 102 counts and Jefferson Ganado on 41 counts. Al Alvarez, who was indicted on 25 counts, and Arnold Agtang, who was indicted on 47 counts, have agreed to plead guilty and serve 10-year sentences.
All five men are in custody.
The indictment was brought by Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Van Marter, head of the white-collar crime unit in the prosecutor’s office.
Van Marter said the indictments resulted from a months-long investigation involving the Honolulu Police Department, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Service inspectors, the state Sheriff’s Office and Immigration, Customs and Enforcement.
