Houston Man Convicted Of ID Theft From Children

HOUSTON – A 35-year-old Houston man has pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

From on or about July 27, 2016, through approximately May 19, 2017, Amir Ali Bey enacted a scheme to obtain money, cars and other luxury items by using the identities of other individuals.

Bey created a number of aliases, including the name Daniel Isaiah Murray, to create credit profiles that were under his exclusive ownership and control.

Bey then used these credit profiles to apply for various lines of credit to obtain cash.

To create these profiles, Bey stole the Social Security numbers of children, who typically do not monitor their credit histories in the same manner as adults.

Bey would then link the stolen Social Security numbers to his name, or to another alias names under his exclusive ownership and control, by adding them as authorized users on existing credit card accounts in good standing.

By doing this, he created a profile and credit history for those names with credit reporting agencies such as Experian.

To further facilitate the scheme, Bey also use fraudulent drivers’ licenses and fake pay stubs to rent mailboxes at UPS stores using fraudulently-obtained identifications.

Law enforcement conducted a search of Bey’s apartment in May 2017, and found multiple fraudulent identification documents, credit cards, bank statements and other items used the facilitate the wire fraud scheme.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt accepted the plea and set Bey's sentencing for March 19, 2018.

At the time, up to 20 years for the wire fraud and a mandatory 24 months for the aggravated identity theft which must be served consecutively to any other prison term imposed.

Both convictions also carry a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

Bey is free on bond pending his March hearing.

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