Taraji P. Henson had an identity thief on her hands.
Yesterday Alicia Newby, a pregnant mother of 6, was charged with stealing the Empire star’s identity.
Was charged with a single felony count of continuing a financial crime enterprise, according to the Chicago Tribune.
You usually hear about the classic “celebrity has a stalker” news or something like that. Identity theft? How can that happen to someone who I’d imagine would have extra security on their financials?
Even the amount that was stolen from Henson is mind boggling.
Prosecutors claim Newby allegedly made $12,000 in fraudulent transactions, thought $4,000 of that was canceled after Henson’s manager discovered the noticed charges on her accounts that did not make sense.
I mean that’s a crap ton of money, well obviously.
But even then, the way the woman got access to Henson’s personal info is kind of…well…a way for someone to lose a job quickly.
Henson’s manager, prosecutors said, noticed the questionable items were being delivered to two addresses on the South Side of Chicago using names that were not recognized.
Yikes.
Now Newby’s attorney says some things related to her could’ve played a role in her taking such action.
Her attorney, reports the Tribune, that not only is she pregnant — and has six children — but she also suffers from bipolar disorder.
Kind of interesting to see that Henson’s financials weren’t the only thing that was being scammed.
Newby is also accused of defrauding JP Morgan Chase, American Express, PayPal and several other companies as part of the scheme.
These are very major banks and credit card companies that were scammed by one single person.
Not a great look Bob.
Newby, as part of her bail, can’t use the internet during the case and she’s being forced to wear electronic monitoring.
If anything we can learn from this is identity theft is real and can affect anyone in the world.
Even celebrities.
Just let Dwight Schrute tell you.
