Gang Leader Leonardo Darnell Zanders

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke was one of hundreds of victims of an identity fraud ring that stole over 2.1 million dollars from individuals and financial institutions, Newsweek magazine reported on Wednesday.

The magazine, citing court documents, said the central bank chief became entangled in the scam after a thief stole his wife's purse in August of last year and began cashing checks on the family's bank account.

The purse-snatcher was working for a crime ring that federal agents and police in several US states had been investigating for months, Newsweek said, adding that Bernanke's wife, Anna, was not specifically targeted.

It said the theft of the Bernanke checkbook became part of a wide-ranging identity-theft investigation by the US Secret Service and US Postal Inspection Service which had been previously underway.

Newsweek said the probe culminated in a series of arrests, criminal complaints, and indictments brought by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia.

One of the group's ringleaders, Clyde Austin Gray, known as "Big Head," pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud last month, Newsweek said.

Gray employed an army of pickpockets, mail thieves, and office workers to swipe checks, credit cards, military IDs, and other personal records, it said, citing his plea agreement and other court records filed in his case.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090826/pl_afp/uscrimefinancebankbernankenewsweek

The preceding report had no pictures of the criminals, which indicated they were niggers. A little digging confirmed this. Another victim, a white woman, wrote:

[color="Red"]The individuals who used my debit were black as are most members of the group although there are known to be white females.

http://womenincrimeink.blogspot.com/2009/04/cannons-to-wiz.html

In addition to Zanders and Gray, the eight others charged are Wenona Latrice White, Sydney Anthony Charles, Shonya Michelle Young, Darryl Earl Price, Sylvester Vaughn, George Lee Reid, Claire Barker and Lennier McLeod. McLeod is already serving a six-year prison term for identity theft, after posing as a bank customer at a Suntrust branch in Memphis in 2007 in a split-deposits scheme.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/pickpockets/