Man allegedly used woman’s identity to buy new Cadillac

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

A case Metro Police investigated this week was reminiscent of the frequent credit card television ads about identity theft.

The Metro case involves a black man who allegedly used a white woman's identity to run up charges of tens of thousands of dollars, Lt. Steve Franks of the fraud and forgery section said.

The victim's first name is Kendall, which can be male or female, Detective Joseph Maviglia said. Michael Vincent Cleveland, 35, somehow allegedly obtained enough information on the woman to get a fake California driver's license in her name with his photo, he said.

Using the phony identification, he allegedly applied for and received a $30,000 loan to buy a Cadillac Escalade.

But then "he got greedy and wanted some expensive rims," Maviglia said.

Cleveland applied for a $5,800 loan at American Financial and, after examining his driver's license and other documentation, an employee became suspicious. The Secret Service, which investigates identity theft, and Metro were called.

"It was determined the victim was a female and we knew we had an identity theft," Maviglia said. Investigators later discovered that the victim was in France.

Cleveland had an appointment Tuesday morning to sign the loan documents, and that's when police arrested him.

Cleveland was charged with two counts each of identity theft and burglary and one count each of theft and attempted theft. He is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on $20,000 bail.

"The biggest problem we have with identity theft is the businesses that allow the credit to be obtained is that all they pay attention to is the FICA score," Maviglia said. "They don't pay attention to much else."