RAHSAAN TAHID MOORE, 24, of Tukwila, Washington, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle yesterday to Conspiracy to Commit Bank and Mail Fraud, seven counts of Bank Fraud, Identification Document Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. When MOORE is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly on April 26, 2007, he faces more than five years in prison.

According to the plea agreement, between 2004 and 2006, MOORE created numerous personal identification documents such as drivers’ licenses and employee badges in the names of real people but with the pictures of co-conspirators. The false identifications were used by co-conspirators who got personal information (such as bank accounts and social security numbers) from a variety of sources, including patient records at Virginia Mason Medical Clinic, and from insiders at banks and other financial institutions. In some instances co-conspirators took over bank accounts by calling banks, posing as a customer and asking that the address on an account be changed. They then arranged for a new debit card to be mailed to the address that the co-conspirator controlled. The co-conspirators would then use the debit cards, along with the false identification documents provided by Moore, to purchase goods and to buy money orders at local retailers and post offices. In some instances, co-conspirators withdrew money from victims’ bank accounts and home equity lines of credits by impersonating real account holders inside banks and credit unions using false identification documents manufactured by MOORE. MOORE also created more than 100 phony checks that were deposited to co-conspirators’ accounts from which cash was withdrawn before the check was returned as counterfeit.

MOORE had been previously convicted of Forgery in Pierce County, Washington in 2003. When he was arrested on July 25, 2006, he had a .357 Glock in his car. As a convicted felon MOORE was barred from possessing a firearm.

At sentencing the government plans to argue that MOORE’s fake identifications have been linked to dozens of ID theft cases with more than $400,000 in losses. Aggravated Identity Theft requires a two year sentence that will run consecutive to the sentence on the underlying Bank Fraud charges.

The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the King County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant united States Attorney Susan Loitz as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Working Group on Identity Theft.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.

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