New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s identity stolen

By Karyn Chenoweth Oct 3, 2007, 14:31 GMT

09/20/2007 - Michael Bloomberg - VH1 Save The Music 10th Anniversary Gala - The Tent at Lincoln Center - New York City, NY, USA © Janet Mayer / PR Photos

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg  fell prey to the scourge of identity theft.
The billionaire's personal account at the Bank of America has been targeted by two thieves, one stealing $10,000 from the mayor, the other foiled in an attempt to get $420,000 by using forged checks, authorities said Tuesday.

Manhattan prosecutors announced charges against the two suspects, but the details on how they obtained Bloomberg's account information and if they had been working together were not made clear.

The two suspects, New Jersey men in custody since late summer, apparently had the mayor's account number, perhaps by seeing or finding one of his checks, law enforcement sources said.

The first theft of $10,000 happened in May through an online transfer from the mayor's account to an E-Trade account set up by suspect Charles Nelson of Newark, prosecutors said.

That swindle was apparently undetected until the second suspect, Odalis Bostic of Elizabeth, tried to steal $420,000 of Bloomberg's money in June, officials said.

WNBC-TV affiliate in New York reports that Bostic is charged with depositing two forged checks drawn on the mayor's account at the Bank of America and issued in the name of his financial manager, Geller & Company, said Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

Bostic then set up a firm in Elizabeth called the Laderman Development Company and opened business accounts in that name at two banks, PNC and Sovereign Bank, prosecutors said.

In early June, Bostic deposited one of those forged checks, worth $190,000, into the Laderman account at PNC and then another forged check for $230,000 into that company's Sovereign Bank account, authorities said.

Because of the size of the checks, the banks put holds on them and a subsequent investigation uncovered the forgeries and the earlier $10,000 theft, prosecutors said.
Nelson is charged with third-degree grand larceny and first-degree identity theft and remains in custody on weapons charges in New Jersey after two guns were found in a search of his home, authorities said.

Bostic, who told authorities that he was in the construction business, was charged with second-degree attempted grand larceny and bail was set at $10,000 at his arraignment Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court.