Wanted fraud master caught in ABQ

ALBUQUERQUE {KRQE} - A man wanted for fraud by the feds and multiple law enforcement agencies has been nabbed by the U.S. Marshals Service after he set up shop in Albuquerque.

Marshals caught Vernon Caldwell after a tip, and this really is about communication between agencies who came together to figure out his alleged games.

Officials say Albuquerque was his next target to start his scam all over again.

Caldwell was running out of places to run.

“(His life of crime) spans over 22, 24 years of criminal behavior,” New Mexico U.S. Marshal Conrad Candelaria said.

Caldwell is a master of kite scams, where people open a banking account, deposit phony checks and then withdraw the cash.

He fooled more than 17 banks across the country, and in 1994 was convicted of bilking them all out of more than $55,000.

That's only a glimpse of the damage detectives say he's caused. “It probably exceeds the tens of thousands of dollars,” Candelaria said.

His scam evolved over the years, and officials said his skills to assume another identity are at a master level.

“Right now we are still counting close to 20-something identities between different dates of birth, Social Security numbers and of course different aliases,” the Marshal said

Along with the confusion about which of Caldwell's eight dates of birth or seven Social Security numbers is real, there's even confusion about his real name. The U.S. attorney and U.S. marshals have it listed differently.

But officials were sure Caldwell was their guy when they came knocking on his door an Uptown Albuquerque hotel at dawn on Tuesday.

They said they know his purpose for adding New Mexico to the 19 states he's lived in before.

“Take up shop here, unfortunately victimize others, and commit more offense and then move on before he is actually identified by local law enforcement," Candelaria said.

Inside Caldwell's room were credit cards with different names, gift cards and computer programs to alter photos.

Officials said Caldwell was trying to live a life where crime pays. In addition to staying at the upscale Marriot hotel, he was driving a Cadillac Escalade, and court documents show he dishes out nearly $500 a month for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle he bought new.

Officials are still trying to sort out where all of Caldwell's charges are and for what. There are known warrants in Ohio for skipping out on his probation and for a pending DWI.

Officials said when he was pulled over last year for another DWI, he of course used an alias.