Home Richmond Press Releases 2009 Richmond Woman Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Identity Theft of Elderly Woman
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Richmond Woman Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Identity Theft of Elderly Woman

U.S. Attorney’s Office July 14, 2009
  • Eastern District of Virginia (804) 819-5400

RICHMOND, VA—Monica Joanna Howard, age 41, of Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced today to 65 months’ imprisonment, followed by a five-year term of supervised release for bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344, and aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced the sentence that was imposed by Chief United States District Judge James R. Spencer.

During the relevant time frame charged in the indictment, Howard worked for a nursing services company that provided health care assistance for elderly patients. Beginning in October 2008, Howard obtained bank account information for a 102-year-old elderly patient who lived in a Richmond retirement community. Using that stolen account information, Howard completed counter checks from the victim’s bank. Howard made those counter checks payable to herself and deposited the stolen money into her own bank accounts. Howard employed the same scheme to defraud other elderly victims in the Richmond region. Overall, the defendant’s criminal conduct resulted in $54,891.12 in losses to the victims. Judge Spencer ordered Howard to pay that amount in restitution.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Richmond Police Department as members of the Metro-Richmond Identity Theft Task Force. Other member agencies include: the United States Secret Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Department of State; Richmond Police Department; and Henrico County Division of Police. Prosecutions for the Task Force are handled by the United States Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia. For more information on the Task Force, including assistance for victims of identity theft, visit: www.richmondIDtheft.com. 

Special Assistant United States Attorney Robert Bryden prosecuted the case for the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

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