A Suwanee woman pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges related to an identity fraud conspiracy involving more than 5,500 victims.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg deferred sentencing for Annette Ford, 47, until Aug. 24. Ford pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to her defense attorney Nick Lotito. The maximum penalty for the two charges is seven years in prison, Lotito said.
Ford is a former real estate broker whose license has been suspended, according to Duluth Police. She also ran a company called E-Pro tax service that was registered with the state.
Federal prosecutors say Ford stole the identifying information for thousands of unsuspecting victims and used it to file fraudulent tax returns. Ford and her conspirators then forged the victims' signatures on tax refund checks and deposited them in various bank accounts, according to court documents.
Ford also allegedly intercepted tax refund and Social Security checks in the mail before they reached the intended recipients. Police estimate she made about $2.5 million in the scheme, but they believe she was only a mid-level player.
No one else has yet been charged in the case. The investigation is ongoing and Ford has pledged to cooperate, according to Patrick Crosby, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Atlanta.
"She was clearly not the ringleader," Lotito said. "This is just going to be a long process to try to put all this behind her."
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