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According to Jeffrey Shanker, the Director of Safety, Insurance and Fraud Recovery for the West Windsor-based limousine service, U.S. Bank of Denver contacted his office last week and said they’ve been investigating charges on a card Baadhio used under a fake name for over a year.
Baadhio used the limo company several times since he allegedly lied on a Princeton University Housing application and was offered an apartment at the university’s Stanworth Lane development since January, police said.
Acting as an adjunct with the university, Baadhio used various names and pickup locations to have the limo company take him to and from Newark and JFK airports on numerous occasions.
He even hired the company to drive him around the area several times and even had a limo drive him to buy groceries at Wegman’s and drive him into New York City, Shanker said.
"I would say that was a little out of the ordinary," said Shanker, who called Princeton University school safety officials when he learned of the bank’s investigation and later Princeton Borough detectives.
"We were able to determine he was a convicted felon," Shanker added, who said the suspect walked with a noticeable limp, looked disheveled and tipped between 18 and 20 percent per pick up. "After (the bank) released that information I opened my own investigation and was able to identify key locations he used and found out that three different names he used were actually the same person."
Joining forces with Princeton Borough Det. Sgt. Curtis Vanchoff, police learned Baadhio lied on a housing application and was living in university housing surreptitiously.
Baadhio had no affiliation with the university, but had passed himself as a visiting professor, police said.
While staying on university property, police said, Baadhio was able to apply for and receive credit cards in various names.
Apparently the suspect has conducted similar activity in Chicago and California and served 18 months in federal prison when he was allegedly pulling off the same scams at the University of California-Berkeley, police said.
According to the World Scientific Web site, which distributes science books, Baadhio worked with Louis H. Kauffman of the University of Chicago to edit a series on "Knots and Everything Vol. 3" --a "useful source of ideas and results for anyone interested in the interface between topology and quantum field theory."
"It’s not everyday you get to lock up a rocket scientist," Shanker joked.
Meanwhile, Shanker and Vanchoff set up a sting operation Saturday when the suspect ordered limo service home from Newark Airport after a trip to Chicago for a "business seminar."
Vanchoff was waiting at his university housing unit at 4:30 p.m. when he questioned Baadhio about the many names he used to order the limo service and the investigation over the suspected credit card fraud.
Police said at the time, Baadhio was able to produce a valid passport and active California driver’s license with two different names.
Police also learned he was wanted on a $50,000 federal probation warrant.
The suspect wouldn’t let the officers in his home, police said.
Vanchoff, though, applied for a search warrant with the Mercer County Superior Court and within minutes was given the court order to searchBaadhio’s apartment.
Inside, agents seized several credit cards with different aliases and just under $10,000 in cash hidden inside a sock.
After agents searched his apartment, he was placed under arrest on charges of credit card fraud, forgery, identity theft and theft by deception.
Baadhio is being held on $60,000 cash bail issued by the Princeton Borough Municipal Court.
Police said both the U.S. State Department and Secret Service were contacted of Baadhio’s arrest and assisted with the investigation.
