PLACERVILLE, Calif. A thief stole the identity of a Golden 1 CU member and used it to siphon all $141,000 out of his credit union account, which the thief then used to try to buy gold coins.
Placerville Coin and Bullion owner Christopher Lowman said the thief came into his store and tried to buy $140,000 of gold coins. The thief had wired the money from a Golden 1 CU account.
It turns out the thief obtained the money after stealing the identity of a credit union member. According to federal documents, the victim and his wife were going to use the money to buy a house. When the victim went to wire $5,000 to his real estate agent, he discovered all his money was missing and called the Placer County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities then traced the money to the coin shop where it had been wired.
Court documents in connection with charges brought against Karapet Damaryan show an unknown man was seen in credit union video surveillance entering a Golden 1 branch and wire transferring the money. The suspect possessed a California driver’s license with the victim’s name, and the victim’s Money market Savings account information. The suspect also provided the member’s mother’s maiden name as proof of identity.
The Golden 1 loss prevention agent notified the member that someone had changed his phone number and requested a new debit card for the account, then later changed the e-mail address on the account. The member said he had not authorized any of the changes.
The wire transfer was subsequently reversed and returned to the member’s account.
