An investigation started by the Fairburn Police Department has led area

authorities to a large identity theft operation in neighboring Tyrone, police

have said.

It all began with a tip received by Homeland Security officials, who were

told of a foreign man who made trips to a local storage unit several times

a day for a few minutes at a time, said Det. Ben Pace of the Fairburn Police

Department. The tip was forwarded to the local Tri-Cities Narcotics task

force because it sounded more like a drug operation than a homeland security

issue, Pace said.

The drug task force used a drug sniffing dog to identify one of the storage

units that was later searched, Pace said.

That search yielded the first evidence that would later lead to the arrest

of Adshina Ogunjinmi, 38, of Tyrone, police said. Police found driver's

licenses, credit cards, checkbook ledgers and the like in a plastic bag in

the storage unit, Pace said.

Armed with knowledge that Ogunjinmi visited the storage unit several times

a day, the department set up a surveillance on the area, Pace said. When

Ogunjinmi arrived, officers confronted Ogunjinmi and asked for several pieces

of identification, Pace said. He provided a New York driver's license

with a different name and address, Pace said.

Ogunjinmi then consented to a search of his vehicle, which turned up 10

boxes containing more fake information, Pace said. Ogunjinmi was charged

with four counts of identity theft and one count of second degree forgery,

Pace added.

Then, Fairburn police worked with the Fayette County Sheriff's Department

to execute a search warrant on the Tyrone home of Mr. Ogunjinmi, 38, and

his wife, Morolake, 31. The search turned up thousands of fake IDs and credit

cards, said Fayette County Sheriff's Det. Aaron Fenimore.

Pace said a conservative estimate was more than 3,000 documents were found

at the home.

Fayette detectives have charged both Adshina and Morolake Ogunjinmi with

eight counts of felony financial identity fraud.

After his initial arrest last Tuesday, Adshina Ogunjinmi was later released

from the Fulton County Jail on bond by mistake, Fenimore said. He turned

himself in to the Fayette County Jail Wednesday after hearing news reports

that he was being considered a fugitive, Fenimore said.

Morolake Ogunjinmi is being held without bond at the Fayette County Jail

and detectives hope to get the same for her husband.

The Ogunjinmi home contained various information on real persons, including

social security numbers, income data, employment information along with addresses

and phone numbers, Fenimore said.

Fenimore said the couple had planned to leave the country for Nigeria. It

is possible they planned to sell the information there, he said. Police are

aware of how the couple got all the information, but Fenimore declined to

go into detail, saying it would be revealed at a later date.

It is possible that federal authorities will take over the case, police

said, given the extent of the possible victims being located over a large

geographical area.

The probe has taxed the Fairburn agency, as Pace, Sgt. Tony Williams, Det.

S. Brown and two support personnel have worked over 12 hours a day trying

to identify victims in the case.