For a $1.9 million fraudulent check operation, a woman who rented out real estate in the Kansas City metro area using stolen identities may be sentenced to prison.
Briauna L. Adams, 28, of Kansas City, Missouri, was charged federally on Wednesday, November 13, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, for allegedly conspiring to deposit counterfeit checks using stolen identities. As a result, the U.S. Treasury lost about $1.9 million.
The U.S. District Court filed a seven-count criminal complaint against Adams, who was arrested on Thursday, according to judicial sources. While a detention hearing is being held, she is still in federal custody.
Adams opened a bank account on March 12 using a stolen identity, according to an affidavit submitted to the court. She deposited a $10,590 check that had been stolen from the U.S. Treasury about two hours later. The cheque was not credited to the account since it was marked as suspicious.
A Louisiana woman told investigators she had recently been the victim of identity theft and had been anticipating the exact same check from the Internal Revenue Service.
According to court documents, Adams is accused of depositing a fake check for $450,504 into a newly formed investment account on June 18. Although the majority of the sum was placed under a 10-day hold, access to a portion of the cash was given in good faith. From the account, she moved $12,000 to two personal bank accounts.
Investigators claim that the bank was informed that Adams’ cheque was fake and that the deposit was revered hours after both transfers were finished. This resulted in Adams’ account having a negative balance, which also cost the bank money.
The IP address used to access the accounts was traced, according to law enforcement officials. While doing so, they discovered that Adams might have rented a Kansas City apartment using the stolen name of a Texas woman. After failing to pay over $14,000 in rent, she left the flat in July.
A third check, totaling $1.4 million, was transferred into Adams’ account with a second firm on August 15, according to court filings. She used the account eight times in the next two days. Once more, the check was returned after being reported as fraudulent.
According to investigators, the Texas woman’s identity was once more used to rent a townhouse in Raymore after the IP addresses used to access that account were tracked down.
Adams is accused with three charges of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft in a federal criminal complaint. The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department and the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Department looked into the case.
