Chicago girl posed as relative of murder victims to gather tax refunds, COVID-19 stimulus
A “profession con artist” in Chicago stole the identities of young homicide victims to gather 1000’s of {dollars} in tax refunds and COVID-19 stimulus funds, federal prosecutors allege.
Katrina Pierce, 50, was charged with wire fraud and aggravated identification theft in a 34-page criticism made public Thursday.
Prosecutors declare her fraud scheme was first found in late 2019 by the Prepare dinner County Important Information Bureau, which observed Pierce had requested 4 demise certificates in at some point whereas claiming to be the sister of every sufferer, regardless of having totally different surnames.
CHICAGO MAN MADE CRITICAL ERROR WITH CASHAPP IN ALLEGED CARJACKING, PROSECUTORS SAY
A subsequent information verify revealed that Pierce had requested 37 demise certificates in 2019, acquiring no less than 26 of them, in accordance with the criticism.
“The director then researched the backgrounds of the decedents and located that every one of them had been murder victims, ranging in age from about 2 years to 22 years, from the south and west sides of Chicago,” the criticism reads.
The director believed Pierce focused her victims as a result of they’d be much less more likely to have credit score historical past and that she could have tried opening accounts utilizing their identities, prosecutors mentioned.
Amari Brown, a 7-year-old Chicago boy fatally shot in 2015, was allegedly amongst Pierce’s victims. She falsely claimed she was his aunt when acquiring his demise certificates in 2019 after which used the stolen data to file a fraudulent tax return that led to a $4,407 refund verify from the IRS, prosecutors mentioned.
“Why would somebody wish to do that?” Amari’s aunt, Andrina Hailey, informed WLS-TV, accusing Pierce of reopening the household’s wounds. “It’s very delicate to us, and we simply assume it’s disgusting.”
CHICAGO GUN VIOLENCE: MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOD HOPING TO CURB BLOODSHED BY SUING GANGS
IRS brokers went to Pierce’s listed return deal with in her purposes in January 2020 and located handwritten notes itemizing the names of lifeless folks in addition to their method of demise, together with “shot,” “killed” or “stabbed,” the criticism states.
Investigators mentioned Pierce additionally sought private data of decedents in St. Louis, together with a murder sufferer to fraudulently receive COVID-19 stimulus funds and a pay as you go debit card in his identify.
Prosecutors mentioned Pierce had a number of financial institution accounts utilizing numerous names to cover her scheme. She deposited practically $84,000 into one of many accounts over a six-month interval final 12 months ending in December – or greater than twice the quantity of her complete earnings reported on her tax return, in accordance with the criticism.
Pierce was arrested Tuesday and appeared earlier than a decide who ordered her held pending trial, in accordance with court docket information cited by the Chicago Tribune. Her preliminary listening to is ready for Tuesday.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In 2012, Pierce was sentenced to 11 years in federal jail for utilizing stolen identities and different bogus paperwork to bilk greater than $200,000 in federal tax refunds and state child-care advantages, the newspaper reported.
Prosecutors on the time referred to as her a “profession con artist” who graduated from shoplifting as a teen earlier than launching forgery, meals stamp and identification theft schemes.
“Stealing was [her] full-time occupation and she or he was good at it,” prosecutors reportedly wrote in her prior sentencing memo. Pierce was nonetheless on supervised launch from the case when she was arrested, court docket information present. Her court-appointed legal professional couldn’t be reached for remark, the Tribune reported.
Comments are closed.