FL Woman Guilty In Identity Theft Scheme With More Than 100 Victims: U.S. DOJ

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL — A federal jury for a Tampa-area woman guilty of trafficking in unauthorized devices and aggravated identity theft, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Maria Morales, 58, of Wesley chapel faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 19.

She was indicted on Sept. 4 of last year.

Morales received more than 100 debit cards issued by the state of Nevada for unemployment insurance benefits distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the department said.

Each of these debit cards was created using personal identifying information of unwitting individuals from all over the United States.

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The debit cards mailed to Morales had the names of those individuals on both the debit cards and the envelope in which the cards were mailed.

She used the debit cards at ATMs across West and Central Florida, withdrawing nearly $2 million in unemployment insurance benefits that she wasn’t entitled to, the DOJ said.

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