Passports Addressed to ‘Hispanic Name’ Tossed After Delivered to Wrong WDM Address

West Des Moines Police are investigating a rash of cases dealing with identity theft and stolen or misplaced identification, including the disappearance of three Ecuadorian passports that were delivered to the wrong residence in an apartment complex.

Jerry Moffitt, who lives at 4401 Woodland Ave., told West Des Moines Police Officers Blain Brinkmeyer and Tom Wynn that a FedEX package addressed to the resident of another apartment within his complex had been erroneously delivered to his door Feb. 11.

According to Wynn’s report, Moffitt told authorities “the name listed on the package ... was for a person with a Hispanic name.”

“Moffitt stated that he took the package out to the building mail boxes and left it there” without opening it, according to the report.

But when the intended recipient, Segundo Gerardo Rivera-Morocho, 40, tried to retrieve the package 10 days later, a dispute ensued and police were called. Rivera-Morocho said the package contained three Ecuadorian passports, one belonging to him, another to his son, William Marcelo Rivera-Morocho, and the third one to Angel Rafael Sarmiento-Perez.

Segundo Rivera-Morocho told police he called the Ecuadorian Consulate and they told him he had to make a police report in order to get new passports.

The incident remains under investigation.

IRS Alerts Man to Identify Theft
A 35-year-old West Des Moines man discovered Monday his identity had been stolen after his accountant attempted to file his tax return with the IRS.

Kevin Dale Coe said he was notified by personnel at Army Post Accounting that his tax return had been rejected by the IRS because another person had filed a federal tax return using his name, date of birth and Social Security number. That person listed an address of Dallas, Texas.

According to the report on file at the West Des Moines Police Department, the IRS told Coe to file an identity theft report with local authorities and to call credit bureaus. Coe did so, according to the report, and was not made aware of any unauthorized transactions using his information at this time.

“It appears the suspect has used Coe’s name only for filing the fraudulent federal tax return,” Officer Dan Wade wrote in his report.

Coe told police he has not been to Dallas recently, nor is he aware of any online transactions that would have involved parties there.

Checks, Form With Social Security Number Taken From Mail Box
Finally, Alvaro Gabriel Torres, 40, of the 2200 block of E.P. True Parkway, told police that a check for $314 to his credit union and a letter to the Iowa Department of Transportation containing his Social Security number had been removed from envelopes placed in an unsecured outgoing mail repository at the Hamlet Apartments complex.

Torres had been alerted by his wife that a number of envelopes in the outgoing mail box appeared to have been torn open. The mail box is of the type commonly found on the outside of homes.

When he searched, Officer Jess Bill said he found two additional envelopes that had been opened.