Coworkers charged with identity theft, larceny in URI Alumni Center, nine victims confirmed

9/12/08 - University of Rhode Island police have confirmed nine current and former Alumni Center employees as victims of identity theft.Last fall, University Police began fielding calls from employees who found suspicious accounts had been opened on their credit reports. After months of investigation, police discovered that a custodial worker had stolen personal information from several employees during regular business hours.

Two residents of Fall River, Mass., Eliza Lima, 41, of 311 Jencks St. Apt. 3, and sister Christiana Billafon, 43, of 141 Palmer St., were both charged with nine counts of identity fraud, three counts of larceny less than $250 and three counts of larceny more than $250 - a felony.

Lima and Billafon were both employees of TriState Cleaning Co., a Providence-based company now under investigation for hiring illegal immigrants.

Billafon worked in the Alumni Center in August and September of 2007. Her sister, Lima, worked there in October and November of 2007.

Police later determined that Lima and Billafon had been working together by stealing names and social security numbers from time cards left in the office.

Lima told police she worked in the center from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and took the time cards from recycling bins and trashcans throughout the office after a woman named Marcia Souza told her to take them. It is unclear how Souza and Lima knew each other.

Lima told police Marcia Souza did not work for the university or the cleaning company, but would visit Lima at work and ask her to get information.

Lima told police Souza asked her to get any information containing names and social security numbers. The sisters said Souza had left for Brazil and they were not sure if she would be returning.

Both Lima and Billafon are originally from Brazil. Billafon is now a U.S. citizen, while Lima is not. URI Police Officer Thomas Kent said she will likely be deported following her trial.

According to police reports, the sisters used the names and social security numbers to apply for credit cards from companies like Visa, Mastercard, Captial One, Imagine, Discover and JC Penny.

Kent said they made up date of births and filled in Lima Jenck Street address. The credit card companies apparently did not verify their date of births, and the sisters were approved for instant credit.

"The companies write it off," Kent said. "They don't even investigate it."

When police finally got ahold of the victims credit reports, they noticed that each person's address was listed at 311 Jencks St. This allowed police to link the cases together.

Lima and Billafon used the credit to order thousands of dollars of goods on the Internet, including cellular phones and GPS devices. They later sold the electronics for a profit.

URI police fielded the first reports in October 2007. The investigation began in December after police realized the cases were connected.

Fall River Police finally cracked the case on March 12, 2008, when they raided Lima's apartment. Police traced the credit card purchases back to Lima's IP address. Upon searching her apartment, they seized a manual for the stolen GPS and a URI Alumni Admission Representative book.

Though this case has been solved, police said this one is certainly not the only case of identity theft.

"The crime itself is rampant," Kent said. When police sent an alert to faculty members informing them about the stolen identities, officers said the phones were ringing off the hook. Police fielded dozens of calls, none of which were even related to the case.

Since then, the time cards no longer contain the full social security numbers - the last four digits are not visible.