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Authorities search for New Ulm man

NEW ULM — Law enforcement is searching for a 33-year-old New Ulm man facing charges of felony identity theft, financial transaction card fraud and obtaining telecommunications services for personal use by fraud.

An arrest warrant was issued after charges were filed in Brown County District Court for Tony D. Steece, 102 Payne St. N. He currently has two arrest warrants, according to court documents.

New Ulm Police got a phone call from dispatch about a fraud/theft case on Feb. 13, 2017, according to the complaint. A victim said she recently checked her credit score online and learned a credit card was activated Jan. 20, 2017, through First Premier Bank with a $500 balance. The victim said she reported it as fraud to security personnel and said the authorized user on the card was Tony D. Steece.

The victim, a Brown County resident, told police she had an active harassment restraining order (HRO) against Steece and has not seen him since a February 2015 court hearing. She said she did not authorize the credit card activation and pulled up a partial statement on her cell phone. Police told her to request information from First Premier Bank and provide it to them.

Police investigated 27 charges totaling $570.66 from local and area businesses including Kwik Trip, Freedom, Holiday, Hy-Vee and Casey’s General Store. Video obtained by police showed a male, identified as Steece, using the fraudulent credit card.

Online charges listed on the affidavit form included a payment center for several online pay sites with Steece identified as the member and in the email address. A PayPal account in Steece’s name, address and phone number showed $125 sent through the account and $205 received.

Police met with Steece at the Law Enforcement Center (LEC) on April 4, 2017, and recorded a conversation after he agreed to talk. Steece denied being aware of a bank account in the victim’s name. He admitted to having made transactions on the account after being advised of surveillance footage of him making purchases on the fraudulent account but said he was not involved with setting the account up, his ex-girlfriend was.

Steece said he knew of one debit card associated with the fraudulent account and thought he only used it at two stores, Casey’s and Kwik Trip. He denied doing anything online and doesn’t use PayPal. He admitted receiving a debit card with the victim’s name on it.

In November 2017, the victim told police of a text conversation she had with Steece’s older cousin who said she was sifting through Steece’s things looking for items he took from her and found an Xfinity (Comcast) bill in the victim’s name for more than $1,000. Steece’s cousin also reported finding a government phone Steece used in the victim’s name.

The victim investigated the government phone and learned there was an active account in her name with Q-Link Wireless. He contacted Q-Link and asked that the phone be shut down. Police wrote a subpoena for Q-Link Wireless for information on the account listed to the victim. Police noticed the assigned Q-Link number on the account was the same number Steece provided during his interview. In addition, police noticed a contact number associated with many of the other online transactions.

The Q-Link service showed a start date of Feb. 22, 2017, and termination date of Nov. 6, 2017. Police looked over the phone logs provided and found the Brown County Probation drug testing phone number on it. People on probation for drug use are required to call the number daily to see if they should report for testing. Steece was on probation at the time of the phone call.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.

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