3 men facing 101 charges; accused of stealing identities, defrauding 30 of Utah's homeless

BOUNTIFUL, Utah (KUTV) — Three men are facing 101 total charges between them -- all accused of defrauding "roughly" 30 of Utah's homeless population with a payday loan scam that promised them thousands of dollars in return.

On Wednesday, officers with the Bountiful Police Department arrested 50-year-old Martin Bokanga, 41-year-old Lateek Ramon Leonard, and 33-year-old Djimy Okutennde for dozens of felony identity fraud, communications fraud, and forgery charges -- in addition to numerous misdemeanors.

It all started when employees at the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center in Bountiful on Wednesday notified police that four men -- three African-American, one caucasian-- who were standing outside their store were acting suspiciously, according to probable cause (PC) statements obtained by 2News.

FedEx employees said two of those men were coming in and out of the store "frequently, acting suspiciously." Employees say the group was doing the same type of thing at the store on April 16.

When police arrived they contacted the four men who now were sitting in two different vehicles. In the PC statements, one of the officers who was questioning the men said:

When we made contact with the males they gave varying stories of how the three black males knew the white male. I immediately became suspicious of the circumstances behind this case as none of the males were providing information of how they met the white male."

Police talked with the white man away from the other three. He told them his name was Michael before police say he "broke down" and said he didn't know the other three men.

Michael told police the trio picked him up near 1300 S. West Temple in Salt Lake City and asked if he had a Utah ID card and if he wanted to make between $1,000 - $2,000. Michael said "yes" and agreed to go with Bokanga, Leonard, and Okutennde.

They traveled to the Bountiful FedEx store where they used Micahel's ID card to print off a fraudulent paystub -- all with Michael's information -- from Tele-performance -- a place Michael has never worked, according to the PC statement.

FedEx provided police with two documents -- one was the fraudulent paystub, the other had Wells Fargo bank account information from either "a third party or Michael." Police believe the second document is also a fraud.

In the PC statement the arresting officer said:

It is a common occurrence for individuals conducting fraudulent activity to pick up a homeless person and to use them to cash fraudulent checks or conduct credit card fraud based on my training and experience."

After talking with Michael, police took Bokanga, Leonard, and Okutennde to the Bountiful police station for questioning.

Police also served a warrant on the two vehicles used by the suspects. Inside, police discovered "roughly 30 3rd party victims for possible identity theft, possession of another's identity, fraud, forgery," the PC statement says.

While at the station police said Bokanga and Leonard refused to speak to them without a lawyer. Djimy Okutennde, however, agreed to speak with officer after he was read his Miranda rights.

The officer who interviewed Okutennde said the following:

He told me an individual named "Sly" finds people that want to make money and contacts him when they are ready to work. Djimy [Okutennde] stated he goes and picks up the individual and ensures they have the information needed to apply for a loan at any payday loan business. Djimy states in order to be approved for a loan the person would need a bank account and a paystub. Dkimy told me sly sent an email direct to FedEx with a fraudulent paystub and a fraudulent document stating Michael had an active Wells Fargo account. I located these documents inside of Martin [Bokanga's] vehicle. Djimy informed me from there the three individuals would take Michael to a payday loan business and he would apply for a loan using his information."

Once approved with the fraudulent information the payday loan would give Michael the amount of money he was approved for. That money would be split between all parties involved. Michael would get the smallest amount and would have a negative credit history when the loan was not paid back.

Djimy told me he has done this type of criminal activity for the previous year and had estimated roughly 20 times of doing this with people he does not know. He admitted to finding people to do this for him without the assistance of sly as well.

Djimy states that the other two individuals with him knew about what was happening and have worked with him in the past."

Martin Bokanga faces:

• 10 counts of identity fraud, all third-degree felonies
• 10 counts of communications fraud, all third-degree felonies
• 10 counts of forgery, all third-degree felonies
• 1 count of possession of another's identifying document, a class A misdemeanor

Lateek Leonard and Djimy Okutennde each face:

• 10 counts of identity fraud, all third-degree felonies
• 10 counts of communications fraud, all third-degree felonies
• 10 counts of forgery, all third-degree felonies
• 5 counts of possession of another's identifying document, all class A misdemeanors

All three are in the Davis County Jail where police are recommending they stay -- asking a judge to not release any of them on bail, saying it's likely they would flee.