

The defendants face multiple counts, including racketeering, establishing a forgery laboratory and forgery. In all, 10 people, including Olden and Beria, have been charged in the case. “The evidence provides a level of sophistication and organization in conducting large scale criminal activity with a hierarchy,” according to a police report. Investigators said Tradeline Pros sent the forged police reports to TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, all consumer credit reporting agencies, on behalf of their clients.

Investigators also recovered a list of police officers names and badge numbers from law enforcement agencies from around the U.S.Īccording to the Tradeline Pros website, the company, on average, is able to “remove 75% of negative items from your reports in the first month.” Tradeline Pros, which was run by Michael Olden and Shafiq Beria, would “perform a credit sweep service which they defined as a deletion of all negative items … on client’s credit reports from all three credit bureaus, in that they did not continue to negatively affect the client’s credit reports and credit scores,” a police report said.Ī search warrant of the business, located at 2800 Sahara Avenue, near Rancho Drive, found the company had copies of notary stamps and dissemination insignia for the Metropolitan Police Department. Police first learned of the scheme when one of the forged reports was flagged by a credit reporting agency. Prosecutors said the company used false mastheads from Las Vegas and Henderson police and authorities in California and New York. The investigation showed Tradeline Pros forged 174 police reports from different law enforcement agencies across the U.S. Investigators said Tradeline Pros was sending sending them forged reports indicating their clients were victims of identity theft and their credit ratings should be restored to a favorable rating. Secret Service revealed Tradeline Pros was duping credit rating agencies with forged police reports. Pay $3,000 and Tradeline Pros would “sweep” or clean up your negative credit rating, clearing the way to get a loan for a car or mortgage for a home.Īnd for a while, between 20, it was a good investment for the majority of the 416 clients of Tradeline Pros.īut a year-long investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department with help from the U.S.

It must have seemed like a sweet deal for customers of Tradeline Pros.
