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  1. #1
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    Woman accused of stealing dead child's identity to build lif

    Woman accused of stealing dead child's identity to build life in Delray Beach

    By Alexia Campbell, Sun Sentinel

    6:18 p.m. EDT, September 9, 2011

    Maria del Carmen Diaz was supposed to be dead. The 8-year-old girl was killed in a car crash in 1981, but this week authorities said a woman stole the girl's identity years ago to build a life for herself in Delray Beach.

    Juliet Sherry-Ann Mahabir, 38, allegedly worked at a bank, bought a house and went into debt — all with Maria's name and Social Security number, according to the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office and the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud.

    Mahabir was arrested Thursday on a charge of criminal use of the personal identification of a deceased victim, and faces up to 30 years in prison, the State Attorney's Office said.

    She could not be reached for comment despite attempts by phone.

    Mahabir, an undocumented immigrant from Trinidad, had been using the stolen identity since at least 2002, when she started working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Palm Beach County, authorities said.

    Two years later, she used Maria's name to buy a $125,000 house in the Atlantic Park Gardens neighborhood of Delray Beach, county records show.`

    Authorities were unaware of the scheme until recently, when Mahabir got a passport as Maria Diaz. The U.S. State Department flagged the suspicious case for state fraud investigators.

    Investigators soon discovered that Maria Diaz died in Massachusetts in 1981, but her death certificate was never forwarded to the Social Security Administration, said Capt. Vance Akins of the Division of Insurance Fraud.

    "That's where this fell through the cracks," Akins said.

    Identity theft is a huge problem in Florida, with about 50,000 Social Security numbers used illegally each quarter, Akins said. Undocumented immigrants often buy Social Security numbers and new identities on the street so they can work, he said.

    It's common for people to steal a child's identity because children likely won't use their Social Security numbers until they're old enough to work. Mahabir's case is more elaborate because she found the identity of a child who died, Akins said.

    "She had to research the girl and read her obituary and get more information," he said.

    Since then, Mahabir has used the girl's identity to get credit cards, buy cars and recently applied for bankruptcy, according to a Division of Insurance Fraud arrest report.

    Mahabir was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on Thursday and released on $15,000 bail. On Friday, she was fired from Wells Fargo, according to a company spokeswoman.

    Authorities have been unable to find the family of Maria del Carmen Diaz .

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  2. #2
    Senior Member Dixie's Avatar
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    What a terrible thing to do... Lock her up then throw her out, when her time is done.

    You can't tell me IRS didn't know a small child was reporting income through an employer.

    Dixie
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  3. #3
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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