Celebrities certainly aren’t exempt from having their identities stolen. Some might even say they’re more susceptible to it.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a woman named Alicia Newby, 29, stole the identity of actress Taraji P. Henson, as well as others and she’s been charged with one count of continuing a financial crime enterprise, which is a felony.
Newby has been accused of hacking into the “Empire” star’s email account and making 26 purchases, some being more than $4,000. Overall, the woman racked up over $12,000 and bought most of the items online.
Chicago Police learned of the scheme when they were contacted by Henson’s manager in August of 2018, and some of the purchases were canceled at that time.
Newby is also being accused of using another person’s identity to lease an apartment on Chicago’s South Side and having some of items shipped there, as well as a separate address.
At one point, a U.S. Postal Service worker refused to deliver the items to one of the addresses, because that person suspected identity theft was occurring.
Plus, it’s been reported that Newby — who’s currently pregnant with her seventh child — assaulted the postal worker, and then made a scene at a post office when she tried to retrieve the items.
The Chicago woman was spotted on camera by police afterwards and was also identified by a local pawn shop owner when she tried to pawn a designer handbag.
Police booked her on Saturday, July 27, and she was released on $10,000 bond the following day. A judge ordered Newby to stay off the internet, not to contact her alleged victims and she has to wear electronic monitoring.
American Express, JP Morgan Chase and PayPal were also named as victims in the scheme. Newby’s next court date is Aug. 8.
