3 charged in credit card fraud case in Laguna Beach

Three people are facing felony charges after authorities alleged they stole a woman’s purse from her car in Laguna Beach in January and used her credit cards to make fraudulent purchases.

Amber Holt, 32, of Highland is facing charges of fraudulent use of an access card, fraudulent acquisition of access cards, forgery, conspiring to commit a crime and fraudulently acquiring personal identifying information with a prior conviction, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

Robert Bird, 39, also of Highland, and Vincent Razvan Oajdea are both facing a count of conspiring to commit a crime. Oajdea’s age and city of residence were not immediately available.

Laguna Beach detectives launched an investigation Jan. 27 after a woman reported that her vehicle had been burglarized and her purse containing several credit cards had been stolen, said police Sgt. Jim Cota.

Cota said the cards were used in Laguna Beach and several other Orange County cities the day they were reported stolen. The next day, someone tried to use the woman’s personal information to obtain a credit account at a furniture store in San Bernardino, Cota said.

Detectives identified the three suspects through video surveillance at stores where the cards allegedly were used, authorities said.

Bird and Holt were arrested May 24. Oajdea was already in custody in Riverside County in connection with an unrelated theft case, Cota said.

Holt was released from Orange County Jail in Santa Ana on May 29 on $20,000 bond. She is expected to be arraigned at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach on June 22.

Hearing dates for Bird and Oajdea have not been scheduled.

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