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Fairburn sting results in big ID fraud case

Police: Tyrone couple had thousands of fake IDs, credit cards

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

An investigation started by the Fairburn Police Department has led area authorities to a large identity theft operation in neighboring Tyrone, police have said.

It all began with a tip received by Homeland Security officials, who were told of a foreign man who made trips to a local storage unit several times a day for a few minutes at a time, said Det. Ben Pace of the Fairburn Police Department. The tip was forwarded to the local Tri-Cities Narcotics task force because it sounded more like a drug operation than a homeland security issue, Pace said.

The drug task force used a drug sniffing dog to identify one of the storage units that was later searched, Pace said.

That search yielded the first evidence that would later lead to the arrest of Adshina Ogunjinmi, 38, of Tyrone, police said. Police found driver’s licenses, credit cards, checkbook ledgers and the like in a plastic bag in the storage unit, Pace said.

Armed with knowledge that Ogunjinmi visited the storage unit several times a day, the department set up a surveillance on the area, Pace said. When Ogunjinmi arrived, officers confronted Ogunjinmi and asked for several pieces of identification, Pace said. He provided a New York driver’s license with a different name and address, Pace said.

Ogunjinmi then consented to a search of his vehicle, which turned up 10 boxes containing more fake information, Pace said. Ogunjinmi was charged with four counts of identity theft and one count of second degree forgery, Pace added.

Then, Fairburn police worked with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department to execute a search warrant on the Tyrone home of Mr. Ogunjinmi, 38, and his wife, Morolake, 31. The search turned up thousands of fake IDs and credit cards, said Fayette County Sheriff’s Det. Aaron Fenimore.

Pace said a conservative estimate was more than 3,000 documents were found at the home.

Fayette detectives have charged both Adshina and Morolake Ogunjinmi with eight counts of felony financial identity fraud.

After his initial arrest last Tuesday, Adshina Ogunjinmi was later released from the Fulton County Jail on bond by mistake, Fenimore said. He turned himself in to the Fayette County Jail Wednesday after hearing news reports that he was being considered a fugitive, Fenimore said.

Morolake Ogunjinmi is being held without bond at the Fayette County Jail and detectives hope to get the same for her husband.

The Ogunjinmi home contained various information on real persons, including social security numbers, income data, employment information along with addresses and phone numbers, Fenimore said.

Fenimore said the couple had planned to leave the country for Nigeria. It is possible they planned to sell the information there, he said. Police are aware of how the couple got all the information, but Fenimore declined to go into detail, saying it would be revealed at a later date.

It is possible that federal authorities will take over the case, police said, given the extent of the possible victims being located over a large geographical area.

The probe has taxed the Fairburn agency, as Pace, Sgt. Tony Williams, Det. S. Brown and two support personnel have worked over 12 hours a day trying to identify victims in the case.