Five in Phila. charged with scamming elderly

Five Philadelphians were charged yesterday with scamming nearly 100 elderly residents out of more than $440,000, said acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid.

The culprits between 2004 and December 2007 impersonated bank officials and security guards, and scammed individuals out of money in person and on the telephone, according to the indictment.

Detoine Davis, 23; Lamar Ross, 22; Sharon Millsaps, 37; Tiffany Allen, 28; and Kaleesha Allen, 31, were charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, identity theft involving interstate commerce, aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. They face dozens of years in prison and millions of dollars in fines if found guilty.

According to the indictment, Davis told victims over the phone that he was a bank official or someone associated with a store or credit-card company and that there was a problem with their account.

In some cases, Millsaps, dressed as a security guard, visited the victims' homes while Davis was on the phone with them and claimed to be from the same bank, the indictment said. She took the victim's debit card and said she would correct the problem. On some occasions, she gave the victims a different debit card, which the victim did not know was actually a card stolen card from another victim, according to the indictment.

In another scheme, Davis would elicit information from victims over the phone, then contact their credit-card company to get another card mailed to a new address, the indictment said. He asked that the address be added to the account.

The case was investigated by postal inspectors.

Davis faces the stiffest penalties: up to 270 years in prison and $5.5 million in fines. Millsaps and Tiffany Allen each face a maximum sentence of up to 62 years and a $1.5 million fine, and Kaleesha Allen and Ross face up to 42 years and a $1 million fine, officials said.