Athens man arrested in connection to nationwide 'dark web' fraud ring
ATHENS, Ga. - Athens-Clarke County police are searching for multiple suspects who they say helped a man steal identities from victims in 25 states.
Officials say Corderius Peak ran a nation-wide fraud ring on the "dark web" from a mobile home community in the county.
"It's clear he wasn't making millions, but he was trying to," Athens-Clarke County Detective Nathaniel Franco said.
Police say the investigation started when tellers at a Pinnacle Credit Union on Lexington Road tipped them off to fraudulent checks.
That led investigators to Peak's home where they say they found doctored IDs with Peak's image but not his name.
"He's using peoples IDs and socials to apply for loans," Franco said.
Police say Peak also had a little black book full of names and social security numbers from all over the country - some as far as Alaska.
Even the post office told investigators of suspicious amounts of mail addressed to random people going to Peak's address.
"They're sometimes breaking into cars and stealing identity, not often, but they are. And mostly they're using the dark web," Franco said.
Peak is behind bars facing more than 70 forgery and fraud charges.
Athens-Clarke County police are now searching for five people who may have helped Peak. There are warrants out for each of their arrests.
The other wanted suspects are below:
- Stacey Foster, wanted on nine felony charges
- Aletha Mullinax, wanted on five counts of fraud
- Catherine Carlton, wanted on ID fraud
- Deldrick Jones, wanted on 3rd-degree forgery charges
- Nikki Banks, wanted on forgery charges
If you have any information that could help with the investigation, or if you think you may be a victim, please call the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.