A Chicago woman was charged with a felony for stealing the identities of a number of people, including actress Taraji P. Henson. According to the Chicago Tribune, Alicia Newby hacked Henson’s email account and engaged in making purchases upwards of $4,000. Newby, 29, was arrested on Saturday (July 27), and the court tallied her fake charges upwards of $12,000.
The fraud dealings also include JP Morgan Chase, PayPal, and American Express. A majority of the purchases were made online. “Once this was done, the defendant then raided the account for a variety of information,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Costello said in court concerning Henson’s information.
The Chicago Police Department was made aware of Newby’s actions when Henson’s manager inquired about fraudulent purchases. The award-winning actress’ manager also shared that the items in question were being shipped to an address completely different from Henson’s.
Newby was released on a $10,000 bond as she awaits her next court date. Henson was the only person that was named as one of Newby’s targets. During the court proceedings, The mother-of-six was banned from using the Internet.
