SARASOTA, Fla. – Brent Acord, 37, of Fort Myers, has been arrested and is facing two felony charges including Grand Theft (over $20,000) and Criminal Use of Personal Information (over $5,000) in connection to a criminal case in the City of Sarasota.
In May 2020, a victim contacted the Sarasota Police Department requesting officers to respond to an area business. The victim told officers an unknown person was fraudulently using his personal information to obtain credit to buy a vehicle. The victim found out about the fraudulent activity when he received a letter regarding a vehicle loan that he did not open. Sarasota Police detectives learned in April 2020, the same suspect used the same victim’s information to purchase a power-sports vehicle from a business in Punta Gorda.
In August 2020, Sarasota Police Department Criminalistics technicians developed latent prints on the application paperwork from the business in Sarasota. The fingerprints were determined to have belonged to Acord.
On Friday, Acord was arrested in Lee County by deputies with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on separate charges for Failure to Appear. Acord was also served with charges for the case out of the City of Sarasota.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Detective Ross Revill at 941-263-6092 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS or online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com.
If you believe you might be a victim of identity theft because of things such as strange withdrawals from your bank accounts, receiving bills that are not yours or calls about debts you do not owe, act quickly.
Suggestions from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) include:
- Call the companies where you know fraud happened
- Place a fraud alert on your credit reports and get copies of the report
- File a police report with your local law enforcement agency
You can also reduce your risk and protect your identity with these suggestions from FTC:
- Read your credit card and bank statements carefully and often
- Know your payment due dates. If a bill does not arrive when you expect it, look into it
- Shred any documents with personal and financial information
- Review each of your credit reports at least once a year