The News Room [News Release]

Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-224-0615
Release Date: Thursday, August 18, 2005

Wayne-Oakland auto theft task force busts cross-county fraud ring --- Suspects rented expensive cars, shopped and traveled at others’ expense

Timothy McClure, 24 Status: being held at the Oakland County Jail Charges: Check Fraud [Bloomfield Twnshp.] False Pretenses > $20,000 Identity Theft Credit Card Fraud Giving a false name to a police officer Driving while license suspended Receiving & Concealing Stolen Property < $20,000 Habitual 3rd & 4th Offense

What started out for sheriff’s deputies in two counties as an investigation into fraudulently rented vehicles has led to charges against three Detroit men investigators say were living much of their daily lives at other people’s expense. Today, officers from the Oakland-Wayne County Auto Theft Task Force said their investigation has put an end to a wide-ranging fraud operation that has victimized people and businesses throughout Metro Detroit, across Michigan and as far away as New Orleans.

According to investigators, Timothy McClure, Ivory Tyrone Bruce and Dion Drake rented expensive cars – one of which McClure totaled - purchased household appliances, paid for utilities, bought groceries, and even took an expensive vacation – all with other people’s money. The three men were charged this week on a range of felony counts in Wayne County, including check fraud, obtaining property under false pretenses, identity theft, credit card fraud and other related offenses. They also have been charged with similar crimes in Oakland County.

“This is a great example of how our new regional effort to crack down on auto theft is leading us to other forms of criminal activity,” said Wayne County Sheriff Warren C. Evans. “This case, which has resulted in a significant number of charges in Wayne County, stemmed from a tip Oakland deputies received in another auto theft investigation.”

Ivory Tyrone Bruce, 32 Status: being held at the Oakland County Jail Charges: Check Fraud False Pretenses < $20,000 Identity Theft Receiving & Concealing Stolen Property < $20,000 Habitual 3rd & 4th Offense

At this point, investigators are still uncovering how many people the trio has victimized and how much money has been involved, but it appears to be significant, said Lt. Mike Sutton of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. “These are not victimless crimes. In many cases the victims are businesses that sold goods or services under false pretenses. In other cases people’s identities were used unwittingly to make purchases, some of which may cause them credit headaches.”

Sutton estimated the dollar amount of the goods and services obtained by the suspects to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Dion Drake, 21 Status: being held at the Oakland County Jail Charges: Check Fraud False Pretenses < $20,000 Identity Theft

• When deputies executed a search warrant at McClure and Bruce’s Detroit residence on Holmur Street recently, they found counterfeit payroll checks from area companies. Investigators say the men would write and cash the checks, then use the money for purchases. Typically, the checks were kept under $500, likely to avoid raising suspicion. Officers also found numerous forms of identification, including driver’s licenses, credit cards and social security numbers they say either were used or would have been used to make fraudulent purchases.
   
• At the time the search warrant was executed, Bruce and Drake were in possession of a Ford F-150 pickup truck that had been fraudulently rented and was more than a month beyond its rental period. The trio rented several other cars from Hertz Rental at Metro Airport and from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Farmington Hills, including a 2005 Lincoln Navigator. Last year, McClure, who is the central figure in the ring, had rented another fully loaded 2005 Ford F-150 that was so damaged when he returned the vehicle, the company had to total it.
   
• Investigators have obtained receipts from a recent stay Bruce and Drake had at the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. The say the two men rang up the $860 expense by using a Pontiac man’s ID card, which later was found in their possession, to pay with a fraudulent check. They even turned a profit on the deal.
   
• “The actual cost of the hotel stay was a little more than $600,” Sutton said, “but Bruce and Drake wrote the check for an additional $200, which they received back in cash from the employee. That is just one of the ways they laundered their money.”
   
• · Then men also traveled outside Metro Detroit to make many of their purchases, also to avoid detection. Investigators have receipts from businesses near Grand Rapids, Jackson and Pontiac, for example, for household items including a washer & dryer, stove, refrigerator and gas grill totaling nearly $5,000.

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