Tacoma woman sentenced for $276,000 fraud, including while she was a mail carrier
A Tacoma woman was sentenced Tuesday for various fraud amounting to $276,000 over seven years.
Iliganoa Theresa Lauofo, 40, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and embezzlement of mail by a postal employee.
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones sentenced her to two years, three months in prison, and she’ll have to pay $276,639 in restitution.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release that Lauofo “lied about her household composition and income, used stolen identities to claim additional benefits and open bank and credit accounts, and stole checks from the mail during a period when she was employed by the U.S. Postal Service.”
As part of the public assistance fraud, which started in 2011, she “stole and misused the identity information of 13 minor children who lived in American Samoa and Western Samoa,” falsely reporting that they lived with her, the release said.
Lauofo also used stolen identities to open bank accounts and credit accounts, including in the name of her ex-husband years after he died, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
As a letter carrier, they alleged she deposited stolen checks and threw away more than 200 pieces of mail.
“This defendant was unrelenting in her efforts to defraud the systems we rely on to help the neediest in our communities,” U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran said in the news release. “She persisted even after authorities made clear they were investigating her fraud scheme. At a time when many are struggling to make ends meet because of COVID-19, we must safeguard federal resources for those who need assistance.”
The sentencing memorandum Lauofo’s attorney filed with the court said in part: “The just sentence in this case is one that would permit Ms. Lauofo to remain physically present for her seven children, while she creates a foundation and financial plan with the assistance of social workers, a probation officer and her family.”
It went on to say: “It is important to impress upon this Court that despite the lengthy and ongoing nature of Ms. Lauofo’s crimes, each and every aspect was borne out of poverty, loss of financial control and a pathological desire to please. There was no point in the last decade at which Ms. Lauofo was able to get her head above water and seek help. There was no point at which she wasn’t saddled with debt. There was no point at which she wasn’t terrified of being arrested, becoming homeless or of losing her children because she could not support them financially.”
