Red Lake County, MN (trfnews.i234.me)—A 56-year-old woman from Great Falls, Montana, has been charged in Red Lake County District Court with felony theft by swindle and receiving stolen property. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.
According to the complaint, the charges result from a fraud investigation. On October 17, a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension special agent investigated the unauthorized transfer of $573,818.75 from Red Lake County Cooperative Inc. to an account at Bravera Bank in Great Falls. The cooperative’s general manager reported receiving an email on July 19, purportedly from an employee of Gales Design & Consulting, instructing her to wire payment to Sackett Waconia for services related to the cooperative’s new agronomy facility. The manager complied, wiring the funds, which appeared to be acknowledged as received on or about July 22.
On August 30, the actual Gales Design employee contacted the manager seeking payment, leading to the discovery that the previous email was fraudulent. Further investigation revealed that the fraudulent wiring instructions directed the funds to an account at Bravera Bank. The special agent learned that the suspect had allegedly opened a business checking account and a checking/money market account at Bravera Bank, providing incorporation documents from the Montana Secretary of State’s Office for “Sacket Waconia,” with the business name misspelled. She also provided a Social Security card and a Texas ID card, claiming to be self-employed and residing in Montana with her children.
Bank surveillance footage allegedly shows the suspect interacting with a bank employee. After the funds were deposited, she reportedly withdrew money through checks issued to various individuals and made transactions with Apple.com. The account was closed on August 13 with a remaining balance of $130.
I’m Chris Harper reporting for trfnews.i234.me