Trial gets under way in identity theft, fraud case

Janet Stein was surprised last year when a prepaid debit card was mailed to her Lincolnshire home, because she had not ordered one.

She was even more surprised when she received a second card in the name of Belinda French, because she had no idea who that was.

Authorities say Belinda French was one of a host of aliases used by a North Carolina woman on trial in Lake County circuit court for stealing more than $100,000 from Stein and another Lincolnshire woman.

Officials said they believe Aretha Antoine is the defendant's real name, although she has used French, Germaine Aretha Albert Elcock and a number of other identities.

She is charged with aggravated identity theft and theft and fraud by wire and faces up to 30 years in prison if the jury of six men and six women finds her guilty.

Assistant State's Attorney Christen Bishop told the jurors Antoine searched the Internet for names and phone numbers of elderly people and then began a complex scheme of tricking them into revealing their dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers.

"This case is like a jigsaw puzzle in that you have to put it together piece by piece," Bishop said in her opening statement. "But as the pieces start coming together, you will see the entire picture very clearly."

Stein testified she received numerous phone calls, all from a woman, in October and November of last year.

The callers claimed to be from the secretary of state's office, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and other places and all required her to reveal some personal information, Stein said.

Then she discovered $45,000 had been transferred from her accounts with J.P. Morgan Chase bank into an account with Fidelity Bank, and much of that money had been converted into prepaid debit cards.

When two of the cards were delivered to her house, Stein called police.

Working with U.S. postal inspectors and Fayetteville police, Lincolnshire investigators traced the calls to phones registered to Antoine and arrested her in March.

But not before, authorities said, she was able to steal $71,000 from Charolete Weidman, also of Lincolnshire, through a similar scam.

Assistant Public Defender Thomas Meyers told the jury there was not enough evidence to convict his client and said police cannot explain why the debit cards they say Antoine was buying with the stolen money were not delivered to her home.

"My client is not guilty," he said. "She is not guilty in spite of what the prosecutor says and in spite of what the prosecutor wants you to believe."

Testimony is expected to continue today.