2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: News
A lavish lifestyle, enabled by fraud
Anderton, 2005 alumnus, arrested for identity theft
Anthony Campisi
The past couple of months have been busy for 2005 College alumnus Edward Anderton and his girlfriend Jocelyn Kirsch.
To support their lavish lifestyle, the two committed fraud on a massive scale, taking in thousands of dollars in forged credit- card transactions, according to Philadelphia Police.
The pair was arrested Friday at the UPS Store near 37th and Spruce streets Friday afternoon, while attempting to retrieve a package from a post office box there. Police say the P.O. box contained merchandise bought using other people's personal information.
Police were first tipped off about the two when a neighbor in the pair's Center City apartment building reported "suspicious" purchases on her credit-card accounts on Nov. 19, Lt. George Ondrejka of Central Detectives said.
The woman also said that a credit card that she had never applied for had been opened in her name.
Police later found that another person on the same floor also had suspicious purchases on a credit card.
Police traced the purchases to a P.O. box at the UPS Store on campus and enlisted the help of Penn Police officers to make the arrest.
Philadelphia Police approached employees of the store earlier that day, telling them to call police in the event that Anderton and Kirsch showed up, according to Marcus Dillard, a store employee.
Dillard said store employees delayed retrieving the couple's packages in order to keep them in the store while waiting for police to arrive.
Kirsch tried to escape in the couple's car, which was parked outside, but Anderton, "knew he got caught," Dillard said.
When police searched the couple's apartment, they found it littered with expensive clothing and fake driver's licenses.
There were "hundreds of cards [with] different names," Ondrejka said. "It was amazing."
Police also found a credit-card making machine, scanners and several computers, which police are now inspecting.
Police believe the couple broke into neighbors' apartments and installed software on their neighbors' computers to steal person information. They also allegedly stole checks from one person.
To support their lavish lifestyle, the two committed fraud on a massive scale, taking in thousands of dollars in forged credit- card transactions, according to Philadelphia Police.
The pair was arrested Friday at the UPS Store near 37th and Spruce streets Friday afternoon, while attempting to retrieve a package from a post office box there. Police say the P.O. box contained merchandise bought using other people's personal information.
Police were first tipped off about the two when a neighbor in the pair's Center City apartment building reported "suspicious" purchases on her credit-card accounts on Nov. 19, Lt. George Ondrejka of Central Detectives said.
The woman also said that a credit card that she had never applied for had been opened in her name.
Police later found that another person on the same floor also had suspicious purchases on a credit card.
Police traced the purchases to a P.O. box at the UPS Store on campus and enlisted the help of Penn Police officers to make the arrest.
Philadelphia Police approached employees of the store earlier that day, telling them to call police in the event that Anderton and Kirsch showed up, according to Marcus Dillard, a store employee.
Dillard said store employees delayed retrieving the couple's packages in order to keep them in the store while waiting for police to arrive.
Kirsch tried to escape in the couple's car, which was parked outside, but Anderton, "knew he got caught," Dillard said.
When police searched the couple's apartment, they found it littered with expensive clothing and fake driver's licenses.
There were "hundreds of cards [with] different names," Ondrejka said. "It was amazing."
Police also found a credit-card making machine, scanners and several computers, which police are now inspecting.
Police believe the couple broke into neighbors' apartments and installed software on their neighbors' computers to steal person information. They also allegedly stole checks from one person.
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 13
Dave
posted 12/05/07 @ 9:49 AM EST
Judging from the Daily News photo, Jocyelyn appears to be a seriously hot young woman with a real zest for life at (and then way over) the edge. While perhaps unfair to Jocelyn, her partner in crime - who may have thrown his Wharton diploma in the garbage can in exchange for a few months of thrills- may simply be that most average of people, the guy with the big brain but so coddled by the Penn bubble that he could not recognize extreme danger when he saw it. (Continued…)
Karl
posted 12/05/07 @ 9:53 AM EST
Let's be frank.
This is going to be a privileged punishment. If either of these two people had a grandfather named "Muhammad," and they were found with hundreds of fake IDs, Homeland Security would have already shipped them off for indefinite detention in Guantanamo. (Continued…)
Alumn
posted 12/05/07 @ 11:04 AM EST
Karl, you are so right. Very good point.
What type of punishment are these kids facing? I'm assuming that they will at least have to pay back all the money they stole???
Dan
posted 12/05/07 @ 11:07 AM EST
Here, according to the Inquirer, is a sentence from an e-mail Jocelyn Kirsch sent to one of her friends early this week: "Eddie got into some serious trouble over the weekend and my family came up to deal with it. (Continued…)
Dave
posted 12/05/07 @ 1:23 PM EST
She needs to fry. She was clearly the ringleader, and he was so blinded by what he thought was love that he went along with the whole thing. I almost feel badly for him, as he was probably so jaded by her that he didn't recognize right from wrong. (Continued…)
Alumn
posted 12/05/07 @ 1:52 PM EST
http://cbs3.com/local/Edward.Anderton.Jocelyn.2.603105.html
Any predictions on jail time?
Alum (lawyer)
posted 12/05/07 @ 2:54 PM EST
The amount of jail time will be a factor of the size of the loss (as yet unknown), whether the judge believes either of them is actually contrite, the degree of cooperation in a complicated investigation and whether restitution has been made. (Continued…)
Stan
posted 12/08/07 @ 7:07 AM EST
I was wondering how the pair would be accountable for postal fraud as it seems like they would have everything sent to their P.O. Box? It would be difficult to continually receive packages if say they changed one or a few letters or numbers. (Continued…)
Karma
posted 12/11/07 @ 9:08 AM EST
I've known Jocelyn for years, and I highly doubt she will ever change in any sort of positive way. She's always been manipulative and caused other people a lot of pain just so she could be more popular. (Continued…)
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