Two More Suspects Arrested in Indentity Theft Ring
Just hours after we showed you Benita Beatrice Williams' photo here on TV20 News, she turned herself in late Thursday.
According to a Gainesville Police Department report, Williams approached a GPD officer on patrol just before midnight. She was in the 1300 block of East University Avenue.
Williams was arrested on charges like racketeering and fraud.
She joins more than a dozen other suspects in jail.
Also joining them -- Brian Lowery, of Gainesville. He was also arrested late Thursday.
Detectives call her the "number two" ringleader in a "large-scale" identity theft ring.
According to court records, the mastermind behind the scam was Ali Barbour, a 19-year-old who has been arrested on similar charges in the past.
When Barbour was just 17 years old, he faced several fraud charges. Barbour got away with probation in that case.
In this case, he is accused of printing fake payroll checks on his home computer. He and others involved are also accused of stealing credit information to buy cars, go on shopping sprees and pay bills.
The counterfeit checks made it as far as Broward County. One victim of the scam told TV20 he lived in New Jersey when the theft occurred.
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