Simi Valley Police serve search warrants and make arrests breaking up an identity theft ring.
On March 19, 2014, Simi Valley resident Hein Dinh, 38, was arrested for drug-related offenses by members of the Simi Valley Police Department’s Special Operations Unit. During that narcotics investigation, evidence of identity theft and credit card fraud activity were discovered at his residence. A separate identity theft investigation was then initiated by Simi Valley Police Detective Josh Lorencz. It was discovered that Hein Dinh was operating a criminal enterprise including identity theft and had co-conspirators who aided in the process of ordering and receiving merchandise over the internet using stolen credit card information from hundreds of victims around the country. Some of the credit card information had been hacked from various websites and others had been stolen from a business in Moorpark and a hotel in Tarzana. Many of the illegal purchases were delivered to local addresses.
On July 22, 2014, search warrants were served by members of the Simi Valley Police Department at three locations in the City. Chris Pham, 37, was taken into custody at his residence in the 1200 block of Tivoli Lane. David Harrington, 39, Deborah Harrington, 63, Ana Perez, 29, and Matthew Kowalski, 26, were taken into custody at a residence in the 800 block of Pacific Ave. An additional search warrant was served at Hein Dinh’s residence in the 2500 block of Justin Ave. He has remained in custody since his March 19th narcotics arrest.
Perez was arrested for being in possession of a controlled substance, Kowalski was arrested for an outstanding DUI warrant, and Deborah Harrington was arrested for possession and being under the influence of a controlled substance. Dinh, Pham, and David Harrington were charged with conspiracy, identity theft, forgery, grand theft, burglary, and receiving/possessing stolen property. All of the listed suspects were booked at the Ventura County Main Jail. Various items of stolen property were recovered at all three locations.
Anyone with information regarding this case or any of these suspects is asked to call Simi Valley Police Detective Josh Lorencz at (805) 583-6958.
Address/Location
Simi Valley Police Department
3901 Alamo St
Simi Valley, CA 93063
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 805-583-6950
Josh Lorencz
Detectives
805-583-6958