By Kathy Steele
South Carolina Bureau The Augusta Chronicle
NORTH AUGUSTA -- Three Irish Travelers from Murphy's Village in North Augusta have been indicted on federal charges of filing false loan applications to buy pickup trucks in Wayne, Nebraska.
The indictments were announced Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska.
Thomas ``Champ'' O'Hara, 47, and his sons, Michael, 26, and Bryan, 24, were charged in separate indictments with one count each of fraudulent use of a Social Security card. They are being held in Omaha at the Douglas County Detention Center after being arrested in June on a federal warrant in Eldorado, Kansas.
The arrests were made with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No bond has been set. An arraignment is expected next week.
According to federal prosecutors, the men went to Arnie's Ford-Mercury Truck Dealership in Wayne, Neb., on May 28 to buy pickup trucks. In an attempt to finance the vehicles, the men filled out loan applications using false Social Security numbers, prosecutors said.
Under federal law, that's a felony.
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney's office characterized the Travelers as ``a law enforcement nightmare in Nebraska and across the country for years.'' Not all Travelers engage in criminal activity, but U.S. Attorney Thomas Monaghan has said he will aggressively prosecute anyone suspected of involvement in this sort of activity.
There also have been some reports of scams in Nebraska involving phony roofing, paving, painting and home repair jobs by people believed to be Travelers from Murphy Village.
The loan scam works something like this, prosecutors said. When buying a vehicle, often a small cash down payment is made but monthly payments arranged in the loan deal are later stopped. It's then left to credit companies to try and repossess them.
The maximum penalty for fraudulent use of a Social Security card is five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, followed by up to three years of probation.
The Irish Travelers are a reclusive community of about 2,000 who live in lavish homes and mobile homes, straddling Aiken and Edgefield counties along U.S. Highway 25. They are descended from itinerant peddlers, and some have reputations for being con artists.