2 sought in Montgomery County identify theft spree arrested

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa. (WPVI) -- A man and a woman accused of identity theft, stealing well over $100,000, have been arrested.

33-year-old Eric Lamont Martin and 29-year-old Portia D. Martin are the co-owners of Centra Spike, Inc., a heating, ventilation and air conditioning firm with an office at 426 Pennsylvania Avenue in Fort Washington.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's office says they were taken into custody on Tuesday. Bail was set at $75,000 cash each.

Authorities allege they were using the company as a front to apply for home remodeling loans from Synchrony Bank with the stolen identities of unsuspecting victims.

"These two individuals were able to apply for loans in their names from their business, have the loans paid to the company into the company's bank account. From the company's bank account, the money was then moved into their personal accounts," Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said.

One of the victims, Oleg Fishman of Upper Dublin, got a disturbing call from the fraud department of Synchrony Bank.

"We checked your records and it looks like you're a victim of fraud," Fishman recalls what the bank told him.

Further, Fishman says he's never done any business with Centra Spike, Inc. or the Martins who are alleged to have applied for and received $23,931 on his behalf.

"Somehow these two individuals obtained the names and personal information of at least eight individuals, some of them, senior citizens," Ferman said.

Court records show that Eric Lamont Martin has a long list of prior arrests for assault, drugs, possession of an instrument of crime and sex charges involving minors, but only one conviction that got pleaded down to corruption of a minor.

In all, authorities allege the couple profited by as much as $124,000 from the creation of the fake credit accounts using the stolen identity information.

It's unclear if there may be other victims out there.

Ferman says anyone who feels they've been victimized by the individuals they should contact police.