An Oakland woman has been charged with felony identity theft after a Berkeley police search turned up hundreds of fake bank cards, and equipment for making hundreds more, at her home in late July.
According to court papers, police searched the vehicle and home of 32-year-old Lecresha Shenete Dudley on July 29 after linking her to a possible child endangerment case as well as a possibly narcotics transaction.
Berkeley officers detained Dudley in her vehicle. According to court papers, a search of the vehicle turned up $664, two driver’s licenses belonging to other people and 32 fake bank cards.
Officers then searched Dudley’s home, in the 4200 block of Park Boulevard in Oakland.
At the home, police say they found 210 fake bank cards, two commercial-grade card embossers and printers, a card encoder, a laptop and 480 PVC cards with magnetic strips.
On July 31, the Alameda County district attorney’s office charged Dudley with two felonies: the fraudulent possession of personal information of at least 10 other people, and unlawful access card activity, specifically that she “designed, made, possess [sic], and trafficked in card making equipment and incomplete access cards with the intent that the equipment and cards be used to make counterfeit access cards.”
Dudley, whose occupation is listed as a student, remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with a bail of $95,000. It appears from Alameda County sheriff’s department records that she is ineligible for bail because she is wanted in another state. She is scheduled for further pretrial Aug. 24 at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.
Dudley had prior arrests related to fraud and convictions in both Florida and Georgia, according to police.
According to the Gainesville Times, Dudley was charged in 2010 with what the paper described as “an identity theft case that may stretch across the South and involve an estimated $100,000 in fraudulent credit card use.”
The paper said Dudley was charged with one count of transaction card fraud, one count of forgery of a transaction card, two counts of identity fraud, two counts of first-degree forgery and 13 counts of transaction card theft.
In that case, police were called to a T.J.Maxx clothing store regarding the fraudulent use of a credit card after Dudley and an associate tried to make a purchase there.
Police said Dudley “was using the driver’s license, debit card, credit cards and financial identity of another woman who lives in California.” When police searched her, they reportedly found 12 other bank cards that were not in her name.
Officers from the Flowery Branch Police Department then “contacted a credit card company and learned that Dudley and others had traveled through several states, including Texas, Louisiana and Florida, and throughout Georgia fraudulently using credit accounts.”
They estimated the loss in that case as of August 2010 at more than $100,000.
Related:
Berkeley pair faces felony identity theft charges (07.17.14)
Man arrested after impersonation at Berkeley bank (01.17.14)
ID theft may affect 931 Berkeley ambulance customers (11.30.12)
BHS head of security allegedly stole from teacher (02.28.12)
BHS head of security accused of identity theft (02.25.12)
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