Man facing 63 felonies in identity theft case

Detective Ken Munson of the San Jose Police Department's High Technology Detail began investigating Daily Journal wire report

San Jose police yesterday announced that a San Mateo man was arrested for identity theft, grand theft and auto theft Monday as he was appearing in a South San Francisco courtroom to face similar charges.

Julian Antonio Torres, 22, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail and is now facing a total of 63 felony counts for allegedly purchasing several wireless phones from a San Jose business using a fraudulent check, according to authorities.

Detective Ken Munson of the San Jose Police Department's High Technology Detail began investigating Torres' alleged activities after he was identified as a possible suspect in February 2002 incident that occurred at Bridge Wireless in San Jose.

Munson says Torres would allegedly steal mail from exclusive neighborhoods in San Francisco and Woodside to collect credit card and bank account numbers and then make Internet purchases using the victims' information.

Torres also was allegedly able to manufacture fraudulent checks and open five e-Trade bank and brokerage accounts, through which he obtained ATM debit cards with the information he got from the stolen mail. Munson claims he used the cards for cash transactions, and would transfer large sums of money from the victims' accounts into his own account.

Through his investigation, Munson learned that Torres recently began buying expensive cars and motorcycles using fraudulent cashiers' checks by accessing Web sites such as craigslist.org or partstrader.com. He would reportedly find people who were selling BMWs, Mercedes, Acuras or motorcycles, contact the seller by phone and arrange a meeting.

Since the investigation began, Munson has identified victims in five counties