LifeLock

Charles H. Belim, head of the “Wig Lady” scam ring, was sentenced yesterday to more than nine years in prison for his part in a Washington, D.C. area identity theft scheme that claimed more than 50 victims.

Belim, 58, his wife, Jacqueline Belim, and other co-conspirators stole purses and wallets containing credit cards, photo ID and other personally identifying documents needed for ID theft. The identity thieves then donned glasses, scarves and other fashion accessories to fool bank workers into allowing them to withdraw money from the victims’ accounts.

In some cases, one member of the ID theft ring deposited worthless checks made out for thousands of dollars into the victims’ accounts. Before the deposited checks bounced, another of the ring members arrived at the bank in full costume and makeup and withdrew money from the fraudulently inflated account.

Jacqueline Belim, 49, was arrested in October 2006 and received a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated ID theft and fraud charges.

Carol Silva, 55, is the woman most often seen on bank surveillance video, dressed up as the ID theft victims. Police said the stole more than $200,000 from at least 23 banks in her part of the scam. Silva was found hiding in a closet and arrested in November 2006. She pleaded guilty to aggravated ID theft and bank fraud charges and was sentenced to 34 months in prison.

Stolen wallets and purses are among the most common means of obtaining information for ID theft. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s wife, Anna Bernanke, became a victim of another pick pocketing and ID theft ring, Cannon to the Wiz, when they stole her purse from the back of her chair while she was in a D.C. area Starbucks last summer.