PORTLAND, Ore.—A Gresham, Oregon man pleaded guilty today for stealing financial and identification documents from more than 100 people in and around Portland.
Robert Loren Finanders, 40, pleaded guilty to unauthorized access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
According to court documents, between April 2019 and April 2020, Finanders is alleged to have stolen financial and identification documents from dozens of people in the Portland area with the intent to steal money from them and from local businesses. Finanders spent tens of thousands of dollars using stolen credit cards and other personal information. Some of the identity material recovered had been located in wallets and purses stolen from vehicles.
The Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) East Precinct Street Crimes Unit began investigating Finanders in late September 2019 after finding a fraudulent Oregon driver’s license in the name of an adult victim during an arrest. The license had Finanders’ photo on it in place of the named victim. Investigators learned that around the same time, police officers in Bend, Oregon had arrested Finanders and a co-conspirator after receiving a report of a person using a stolen credit card at a local restaurant.
Bend police searched the vehicle driven by Finanders’ co-conspirator and found a passport, W2s, and a retail credit card matching the name of the victim whose stolen driver’s license was recovered by PPB. A search of Finanders’ Bend hotel room returned several additional W2s in the name of another victim and a victim profile notebook.
PPB officers linked Finanders to additional identity theft crimes in Portland, Gresham, and Lake Oswego, Oregon and, on January 22, 2020, executed a search warrant at his Gresham residence. Officers seized stolen profiles of more than 80 individuals; dozens of stolen and fraudulent identification and personal documents including passports, government-issued identification cards, and driver’s licenses; an embosser; a card reader; stolen mail; additional victim profile notebooks; three handguns; a dismantled AR-15; body armor; and evidence of drug trafficking.
On March 12, 2020, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a nine-count indictment charging Finanders. On April 1, 2020, he was arrested by PPB.
Finanders will be sentenced on December 6, 2021 by U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut.
As part of his plea agreement, Finanders has agreed to pay restitution in full to his victims.
Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.
This case was investigated by the PPB East Precinct Street Crimes Unit with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the U.S Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.