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‘He did a lot of wrong.’ Fake credit report scheme gets NC man 100 months in prison

File photo

For nearly seven years, Michael Anthony Griffin ran a credit-repair business from his home in Knightdale, promising clients he could boost their financial profiles for a fee.

But instead, federal prosecutors say, he faked police reports to falsely show those clients had been victims of identity theft, sending them to credit bureaus.

On top of that, Griffin used fraudulent identities to open Lowe’s credit card accounts, and he used fake documents to get a Hyundai Genesis, according to his 2020 indictment.

For his guilty plea to fraud, Griffin will spend 100 months in federal prison and must pay more than $400,000 in restitution. Several members of his family have already been sentenced as part of the scheme.

‘He’s taken his entire family down’

“Like a heavy, heavy anchor, he’s taken his entire family down,” said U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle, who sentenced Griffin on Wednesday.

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Losses and fraudulent gains in the case total $3.4 million, the U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Gilmore cited 597 credit repair clients, adding Griffin would fax fabricated police reports from his home office.

“He was the go-to person to get fake documents to rip off banks,” Gilmore said.

Griffin also used false identities for his own clients and for himself, the indictment said. Out of all the stolen Social Security numbers involved in Griffin’s case, Gilmore said, 91% came from minors.

“Why?” Gilmore asked rhetorically. “One, they can’t fight back. Two, they don’t even know.”

‘A massive fall from grace’

Griffin, fighting tears and pausing frequently, apologized to his family. He spoke of growing up on a farm, having a promising career in baseball thwarted by an injury and of holding fund raisers for “undersized” youth basketball players.

“This is not me,” he said. “I’ve always been a good father. I’ve always been a person to help my community.”

Boyle stopped him.

“Did they get the wrong guy?” he asked. “Why are you here?”

“Because I’m guilty of a crime,” Griffin said.

Griffin’s attorney, Raymond Tarlton, noted his client is already more than halfway to paying his restitution.

“He did a lot of wrong,” Tarlton said, “but there is more to him. ... This is a massive fall from grace. He knows that.”