Somebody stole DeWayne Keith Long's identity, obtained credit cards and bank loans, accumulated at least $500,000 in debt, filed bankruptcy and destroyed the Orange County man's credit score.
According to a federal lawsuit, there's no mystery who assumed Long's identity: DeWayne Keith Long and you can bet this upcoming Father's Day won't be a joyous occasion in one family.
The Orange County Long is Junior and his complaint inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana alleges his father, DeWayne Keith Long, Sr. of Omaha, Nebraska, abused parental knowledge of his birth date, social security number, employment history, addresses and other personal information to commit the fraud.
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“The defendant, Senior, was never authorized to use any part of plaintiff's information or assume his identity,” the lawsuit alleges. “Defendant misappropriated and converted plaintiff's personal and private information for his own personal use and enjoyment and to the detriment of plaintiff.”
Long Jr. discovered the situation when he and his wife began to purchase a home in OC, made loan inquiries and discovered “derogatory credit information, bankruptcy filings, judgments, liens and other severe adverse information reported to credit reporting agencies against plaintiff.”
The shocked victim initially thought there had been a credit reporting agency error, but an investigation determined his father “has been representing himself as plaintiff and left unpaid bills including $35,000 to HBL, Inc., $8,520 to Discover Card, $26,136 to Nebraska Furniture Mart, $13,350 to Citifinancial, Inc. and $12,707 to American General Financial Services, according to the lawsuit.
Because of his wrecked credit, Long Jr. was told by lending institutions that he'd have to pay at least $500,000 more for a mortgage.
In the case filed this month, Long Jr., who claims his father's acts have left “a cloud of uncertainty” over his financial future, seeks $1 million in damages and restitution plus an injunction blocking papa from using his personal information ever again.
Long Sr. has not yet filed a response.
U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney is presiding, but the matter is on hold until Long Jr.'s Newport Beach attorney corrects filing deficiencies.
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CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.