HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. -- A suspect who legally obtained the personal information of a prospective renter instead used that information to create an "alternate life with the stolen identity" of a Minnesota woman for eight months, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
With assistance from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota, HCSO was able to extradite Angela Marie Brown and charge her with five counts of Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information, 16 counts of Forgery and Uttering a Forged Check and Organized Fraud less than $20,000.
According to the report, the victim, Julie Ryan, tried to rent a house from Brown in 2014. Brown requested copies of Ryan's driver's license and Social Security Card, which the victim willingly submitted. The rental deal did not go through and the two concluded their business.
Brown used that information to open up multiple bank accounts, a Post Office box, utilities accounts and rent an apartment, all in Ryan's name.
The threads of this alternate life began unraveling for Brown back in August, when the bank manager of a Hernando County Capital City Bank began tracking bounced checks written on a closed account.
Over an eight month period, Brown, using Ryan's name, became a regular customer at the branch location and was known to employees.
The bank manager contacted HCSO detectives about the fraudulent checks. Early in the investigation, detectives were able to trace the bank account to an address at the Hibiscus Springs apartment complex in Spring Hill rented in Ryan's name.
Brown, posing as Ryan, was recently evicted from the complex and had fled to Minnesota. With surveillance footage from the banks, detectives were able to connect Brown with the identity theft and produce a warrant for her arrest.
The suspect was located and arrested in November and transported to Hernando County Detention Center on January 4 where she is currently being held on $84,000 bond.
