Authorities say a 32-year-old woman used a fake identity and phony checks to drain nearly $330,000 from a Gig Harbor couple’s checking account earlier this year.
Sasha Maritza Gray and two conspirators allegedly used much of the money to buy merchandise and gift cards at the Kmart on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma, court documents show. They had help from a Kmart employee Gray befriended and showered with gifts, the records state.
Pierce County prosecutors last week charged Gray with 44 felonies, including leading organized crime and multiple counts of identity theft, forgery, theft and trafficking in stolen property.
She pleaded not guilty in Superior Court on Thursday and was ordered jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Stephanie Hope Smith, age unknown, and Stephanie Wilkes, 30, also are charged in the case but with many fewer crimes. They, too, pleaded not guilty and are jailed.
The Kmart employee has not been charged. He is cooperating with authorities.
Pierce County sheriff’s detectives began investigating the case in July when the couple reported being the victims of check fraud.
They told authorities someone gained access to their checking account and stole $329,905 between May and July of this year, court records show.
They became aware their account was compromised when a bank manager contacted them to ask if they had made a number of recent purchases at Kmart, the documents state.
“(The woman) stated that she never shops at Kmart, and she immediately went to the bank and met with the manager,” according to the records.
Investigators with Kmart and the Sheriff’s Department used information from the Kmart rewards program, Facebook accounts and interviews to slowly piece together who was behind the fraud, the records show.
Gray at some point gained access to the driver’s license of a woman whose purse was stolen more than a year ago at a Tacoma convenience store, court documents state.
She assumed that woman’s identity and somehow manufactured checks containing her new name and the account information of the couple whose account was drained.
The Gig Harbor couple told investigators they don’t know how Gray got hold of their banking account information.
Gray and her friends then went on titanic shopping sprees, dropping as much as $3,000 at a time on electronics, accessories and gift cards, the records show.
Gray wrote 49 checks for more than $127,000 at the Sixth Avenue Kmart between June 15 and July 20, the documents state. Some of the merchandise later was returned for cash refunds.
She also wrote checks at local sportswear shops, auto dealerships and other businesses across the Puget Sound region, court records show.
Gray developed a relationship with the employee at the Sixth Avenue Kmart who would ring up many of her purchases and gather merchandise she called to request ahead of her showing up at the store, the records state.
The man told detectives she would reward him with gift cards of up to $250 and merchandise, including a big-screen TV.
“When asked if he knew the checks were bad, (the employee) stated that he knew there was something wrong but the system would allow the checks to go through,” the records state.
The man told police Gray sometimes would send her babysitter or friend to buy merchandise. Those people later were identified as Smith and Wilkes, according to the court records.
After her arrest, Smith told detectives Gray gave her more than 50 gift cards worth $250 each for her help in the conspiracy, documents show.
She allowed a sheriff’s detective, Dan Wulick, to seize items from her home she bought with money Gray had given her.
“These items included a 42-inch LCD TV, a 22-inch LCD monitor, video games, a computer keyboard and printer,” the court records show.
Smith also showed the detective several pairs of Air Jordan athletic shoes she purchased for her son.
“Wulick did not take those as they were well-worn,” the records state.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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