DST member accused of identity theft (4.15.04)

April 15, 2004 Student accused of fraud Police: Senior stole tenants' identities, about $100,000 By SARAH MCEVILLY The State News An MSU student was charged with identity theft and fraud on Friday after police say she obtained other students' personal information and used it to steal more than $100,000. East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said Friday that communication senior Denita Dorsey, 22, stole personal information from several people, many of whom were student tenants of Melrose Apartments, 16789 Chandler Road, or parents who co-signed rental applications, While Dorsey worked as an employee at the apartment complex, Liebler said she used residents' files to obtain information that allowed her to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards and get student loans. She used the money to pay for rent, pay cell phone bills and buy new clothes, Liebler said. In one incident, Dorsey wrote a check for $40,000 to buy a new car. Dorsey was terminated from her job at the apartment complex in December when it was discovered she had been using personal information for her own benefit, John Kerrigan said on Friday. Kerrigan is the director of marketing and public relations for United Campus Housing Management in Austin,Texas, which represents Melrose Apartments. He said his company has been working with the police since January to investigate and build a case against Dorsey. Relatives in Saginaw were contacted by police and asked to locate Dorsey after warrants for her arrest were issued on Thursday night, Liebler said. Dorsey was arraigned Friday in 54-B District Court on four counts of stealing or retaining without consent. Liebler said she could face up to four years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. Her bond was set at $100,000 and she is being held at the Ingham County Jail in Mason until her next court date, which Liebler said would be in early April. Kerrigan said this is the first time Melrose Apartments has encountered such an incident. "We screen all of our employees," he said. "They go through a huge amount of background screening before they're offered positions. "Nothing is fail-proof because they can always change their mind and become criminals." Judith Collins, the director of the MSU Identity Theft Partnerships in Prevention, said many cases of identity theft originate in the workplace. "Criminals are going to go where the opportunities are the greatest," said Collins, who was not involved in investigating the Melrose case. "Where is that? In the workplace." Prior to coming to MSU in 2000, Dorsey received a $2,000 Rosa Parks Scholarship, an award given through The Detroit News. She graduated as salutatorian from Saginaw High School, according to The Detroit News, and was named a Vacation Bible School Scholar and Saginaw Valley District Association Youth of the Year. She also is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority at MSU. Phone messages left for Dorsey's family members in Grand Rapids, and for the president and vice president of the sorority, were not returned Sunday. Liebler said it will be difficult to sort out just how many identities were stolen. "There are many, many other frauds and identity-theft issues that we still need to deal with," she said. Some students living at the apartment complex said they were concerned when they heard about the charges. "I plan on asking my parents if they have had any weird activity in their accounts, because it concerns me that this could happen to them," Allison Smartt, a deaf education junior, said. Staff writers Steve Eder and Jaclyn Roeschke contributed to this report.