Florence Woman Sentenced for Identity Theft

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Victoria Thomas, a/ka Vicatria Thomas, age 41, of Florence, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court in Florence, South Carolina, for bank fraud and identity theft, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344 and 1028A(a)(1). United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten of Florence sentenced Thomas to 32 months’ imprisonment, five years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay $22,099.30 in restitution.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Thomas entered into an agreement with another individual to open an ambulance service and convinced the other person to provide Thomas with her personal information, such as her date of birth and social security number. Thomas used this information to open an account at Wachovia Bank and at Advanta Bank Corporation. Thomas wrote checks on the Wachovia Bank account but did not have funds to cover the checks. Thomas also applied for credit and financing with Advance Business Capital, Amerifund, Alliance Funding Group, Brickhouse, Capital National Bankers Trust, PenTech Financial Services, and Fleet One, LLC., using the other individuals name and personal identifying information. As a result of Thomas’ activities, Wachovia Bank lost over $22,000.00.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Day of the Florence office handled the case.