State College man fraudulently set up credit cards in son’s name, police say

A State College man faces felony and misdemeanor charges after allegedly setting up multiple credit cards in his son’s name.

According to the criminal complaint filed by State College police, the son came to police in early June claiming to have received a letter from American Express concerning an account. The son reportedly stated he had no account with American Express and learned the account had been opened a year prior with his father’s business listed as an authorized user.

The son closed the account and confronted his father, Robert Edwards, 67, police said, who initially denied opening the account. Edwards later allegedly acknowledged he opened the account, but it “wasn’t a big deal because he was making the monthly payments and they were never late.”

The son checked his credit report and found multiple accounts listed in his name he did not open, police said, including accounts with Capital One Bank, Citi cards, Discover, Credit One Bank and First Premier Bank. Balances on the accounts reportedly totaled $42,801.

Edwards was interviewed by officers in late June, police said, when he stated he had stolen his son’s identity and used it to take out a loan and open up credit cards. He allegedly claimed that after a divorce, he was given 120 days to refinance his house and attempted to get different loans but was turned down.

Police said he chose to use his son’s good credit to get a Discover loan for $20,000 so he could pay off his credit card debt, and was subsequently able to get VA refinancing.

The son confirmed in July that all the loans and cards had been transferred over to Edwards, police said.

Edwards was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Steven Lachman, according to court documents, and charged with six felony counts of identity theft, a felony count of theft by deception and six misdemeanor charges of identity theft. He was released on his own recognizance.

A preliminary hearing is slated for Aug. 16.

This story was originally published August 2, 2017 at 4:40 PM with the headline "State College man fraudulently set up credit cards in son’s name, police say."