Woman Facing 20 Years In Prison After Attempting To Obtain Loan With NBA Player's Identity
(CNN) -- An Atlanta woman faces at least 20 years in prison after she admitted to using the stolen identity of an NBA player in an application for a $2.5 million loan, according to a US attorney's office.
Annie Ford, 51, pleaded guilty in US District Court in New Jersey Friday to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, US Attorney Craig Carpenito's office said in a statement Friday. Carpenito is the US attorney for the district of New Jersey
In October and November 2013, Ford made fraudulent documents using the name of the victim, who at the time was a professional basketball player and a New Jersey resident, according to the indictment. The NBA player was not named in the indictment.
Ford forged the victim's signature on multiple documents used in the loan application, including an escrow document that said the $2.5 million loan would be deposited into a bank account that Ford controlled, the US attorney's office said.
At one point, in a conference call with the New York-based lending company, another participant in the scheme impersonated the NBA player to help with the loan application, the indictment says.
The wire fraud charge carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the US attorney's office said. Ford faces up to two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge, which would be served consecutively to any other prison term.
CNN has reached out to Ford's attorney for comment.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 4, 2020, the US attorney's office said.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
