The criminal case against a Chantilly woman is moving forward in the legal system. She is Hydee Arellano, 37, of 13961 Rockland Village Drive, No. 104, and she's accused of identity theft.
IN A JAN. 17 affidavit for a warrant to search her apartment for possible evidence, Fairfax County Police Det. Brian Bayliss of the Financial Crimes Section detailed the case against her.
He wrote that, between Nov. 11 and Dec. 18, 2006, the police department received three different complaints of identity theft. All three victims reported that someone had fraudulently used their personal information to open, or attempt to open, various credit-card and store-credit accounts.
"The majority of these fraudulent applications were opened online," wrote Bayliss. "When ordering merchandise using the accounts, the suspect making the fraudulent applications used the address of 13961 Rockland Village Drive, No. 104, Chantilly, Va., for purpose of delivery of the purchased items."
According to the detective, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records and "prior police contact" confirm that's Arellano's address. He also checked with the Virginia Employment Commission about her.
Bayliss' inquiry revealed that Arellano "worked at the same doctor's office which all three victims had patronized a few days before their personal information was used to open fraudulent accounts."
He also noted that, in 2001, Arellano was sentenced in Fairfax County Circuit Court to 18 months in prison for credit-card forgery, with all that time suspended.
Police executed the warrant at her apartment, Jan. 18, and seized: two desktop computers and a laptop, a Sony memory stick, a list of passwords, a Best Buy gift card, information about specific people, two wallets, the contents of a shredder and a "wish list" from a purse.
On Jan. 25, police charged Arellano with three counts of identity theft. Her court case was then continued several times. However, last Tuesday, Sept. 25, she appeared in General District Court before Judge Michael Cassidy. At that time, two of her charges were dropped and one was certified to the grand jury for possible indictment.