Tacoma friend ‘in need’ charged with conning more than half a million from victims
A Tacoma woman was charged Monday in U.S. District Court with stealing more than $550,000 from friends and acquaintances after she allegedly told them she needed the money for medicine, school and bail.
U.S. Attorney Nick Brown brought the four wire fraud charges against Sabrina Taylor, 40.
Taylor met her victims online and allegedly asked them for money to pay for multiple sclerosis medicine, tuition for the University of Washington and bail for a jailed brother.
“In fact, Taylor was not ill with multiple sclerosis, was not paying tuition to the University of Washington as claimed, and her brother was not in jail,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “Taylor told other stories about how she planned to repay the loans, lying about her employment, a litigation settlement with a local bank, and funds she expected to receive from her parents.”
The alleged crimes occurred between November 2016 and July 2019, according to court records.
Taylor met her alleged victims through shared interests that included Japanese anime, comic books and video games.
If convicted, Taylor could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorney Natalie Walton-Anderson.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
