Dropped wallet leads to arrest of couple on Southwest flight waiting to leave Milwaukee

 A lost wallet in the jet bridge of a departing flight at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport led to the arrest of a Michigan couple on charges of identity theft and fraud.

According to the criminal complaint:

On June 6, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant found the wallet in the jet bridge as a flight was boarding. The flight attendant opened the wallet to find information that would help identify the owner. When the attendant noticed several cards and IDs in various names, the wallet was turned over to Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputies.

Milwaukee Mitchell is owned and operated by Milwaukee County and the sheriff's office is the primary law enforcement agency at the facility.

One of the IDs in the wallet was for Robert Daniel Martin. Another, from Pennsylvania, had the same photo but a different name. There were credit and debit cards in yet more names.

Deputies entered the plane and found Martin, 35, who said his name was John Smith, as reflected on his boarding pass.

The woman lying across his lap denied knowing him. They were both arrested. As they were being led off the plane, Martin told the woman words to the effect of, “Don’t say anything, babe. They have nothing on us.” 

But they did.

Fingerprints confirmed Martin's identity, and the fact he had a long list of fraud convictions and was on federal probation.

The woman was identified as Dallal Farha, 38, though she was traveling with a boarding pass in the name of someone whose initials are A.M.  Her purse contained a Pennsylvania driver's license with a third name and birthdate, and credit or debit cards in more names.

In her computer bag, deputies found instructions on buying and using stolen Social Security numbers, files with profiles of people, blank checks, notes about bank routing numbers and "numerous other documents obviously related to identity theft."

Among the records was a detailed profile of the John Smith under whose ID Martin was traveling, like his Social Security number, credit report, businesses and more. 

Investigators contacted the real John Smith, who said he'd been the victim of identity theft and his credit was ruined. The woman whose name Farha was using, A.M., reported the same thing. 

Martin's last known address was in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and Farha's in nearby Ann Arbor, according to the complaint.  Both are being held in the Milwaukee County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.