ID theft suspect believed to have fled overseas
Barrington resident Kimberly Clare thought she had a shot at collecting the nearly $100,000 in child-support payments owed by her ex-husband.
Gregorio Cardenas, 39, was back from Ukraine late last year, living in Waukegan and proceeding through Lake County's court system on charges he stole a Russian woman's identity to open credit cards he used in her name.
Clare and her attorney, Stephanie Bass, said they believed Cardenas would be around for a while, considering he had to surrender his passport while free on bond. They said Cardenas even cooperated with them in a settlement agreement that reduced the outstanding child support from $207,512 to $96,086.
But the potential child support payments and the criminal case involving the identity theft charges may have fizzled, because Cardenas is believed to have fled the United States after regaining his passport, according to Lake County court documents.
Clare, 33, the mother of three children, said she suspects her former husband is back in Ukraine, where he operates as a self-described global human capital management professional. A Lake County warrant for Cardenas' arrest was issued March 8, with a $500,000 bond attached.
"If we held him here, the chances to get my funds and give them to my children are good," Clare said.
Cardenas declined to comment through an e-mail sent from his Web site address. He referred questions to his attorney, Elliot Pinsel, who couldn't be reached.
Deerfield police arrested Cardenas last Oct. 13 after he returned from Ukraine, court documents show. Cardenas was charged with two counts of identity theft.
Lake County prosecutor Ari Fisz said Cardenas was accused of obtaining two credit cards in the name of Natalia Isakova, 29, the Russian woman who was living in Deerfield in 2006. Isakova said she came to Deerfield to stay with a family as part of a cultural exchange program in 2005.
Fisz said Cardenas, who didn't have Isakova's permission to open the credit-card accounts in October 2006, racked up about $3,800 in charges in her name. Fisz said Isakova and Cardenas had a romantic relationship.
Cardenas regained his passport at a court hearing for his identity theft case and returned from one trip overseas, Fisz said, so there was no reason to believe he'd flee the United States. He said there isn't much local or state authorities can do if Cardenas is in Ukraine.
"It's our belief that he's overseas, and I don't know that he's coming back," Fisz said.
Isakova said she met Cardenas through a Web site geared for Russians in the Chicago area. She said she wants to pursue the identity theft case against him to the end in Lake County.
"I just wanted to show everybody that this guy can hurt other people, too," said Isakova, who straightened out her credit and is living with Cardenas' ex-wife in Barrington.
Isakova said she wan't surprised Cardenas began missing court appearances early this year, and apparently departed the United States.
Documents show Cardenas' criminal history includes a theft by deception conviction in Cook County in 1996. His missed child-support payments to Clare totaled $207,512 from April 2001 to November 2007, according to court records.
Clare said she met Cardenas when both worked at a Bannockburn credit firm in 1994. She said they were married from 1995 to 2000.
Bass said an effort should be made to return Cardenas to the United States. A court document filed in April 2007 alleged Cardenas moved to Ukraine to avoid the child-support payments.
"In this case, it's just money," Bass said. "I think that's how authorities look at it."