Using multiple identities stolen up to three years ago from Texas to Florida, authorities say three people bought vehicles at a West Palm Beach car dealership late last year.
When the suspects drove away, an 82-year-old Delray Beach man, a Miami firefighter and a Connecticut student were the unwitting owners of new cars, sheriff’s detectives said.
Palm Beach County detectives said Monday that they had broken up an elaborate identity-theft ring and charged five people with using stolen identities to buy new cars at a Kia dealership.
Authorities say the suspects had several stolen identities and were able to pull off the transactions with the help of two friends who were Kia employees. Detectives are contacting additional victims and advising those who have had mail, purses or wallets stolen to get a copy of their credit report.
“They had so many IDs, there could be additional cases,” sheriff’s spokesman Paul Miller said.
Two men and one woman have been arrested, and investigators are looking for two others.
The case began in November and unraveled in January, when a manager of West Palm Beach Auto Mart Kia at 1575 S. Military Trail told sheriff’s investigators that someone called them complaining about being charged payments for a car they never bought.
“The victims didn’t know they owned brand-new cars,” said sheriff’s Detective Cynthia Robinson.
The firefighter’s identity was purloined using mail stolen three years ago. He and the Delray Beach man didn’t know their identities were used to buy the cars until they were contacted by detectives. Robinson did not release the victims’ names.
Beginning in November, Kia employee Nieves Brantley, 22, bought a 1999 Chevrolet from another Kia employee, Apryl King, 39, using identities stolen from the firefighter and Delray Beach man, a sheriff’s report said.
They also sold three 2001 Kia Optimas worth about $23,000 each to three men late last year who used counterfeit checks from stolen mail to buy the cars, the sheriff’s report said.
Jabez M. Jacobs, 21, used the identity of a Michigan woman whose wallet was stolen in a restaurant in April 2000 to buy a car, the report said. Jeremy Mangual, 25, of West Palm Beach, used the Connecticut student’s ID to buy a car, while Ivory Tyrone Bruce, 29, used the Delray Beach man’s identity and a money transfer stolen from mail belonging to a Titusville resident, the report said.
The men registered three of the cars in both the victims’ names and their own names, Robinson said.
Detectives arrested Brantley at the dealership on Jan. 11 and charged him with grand theft, organized fraud and two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card. King, who no longer works for Kia, was arrested Friday in Riviera Beach.
Jacobs and Bruce are still wanted on charges of grand theft auto, fraudulent use of personal ID information, organized scheme to defraud, forgery, obtaining property by false personation, conspiracy, and fraud in vessel title application or bill of sale. King is already facing those charges. Bruce, who also goes by the names Jaquan Alexander and Kemari Jones, has arrest records in Ohio and Michigan, Robinson said.
The stolen cars have been recovered.
Kevin Krause can be reached at or 561-243-6604.
