A woman was arrested after allegedly using stolen identities to rent luxury apartments for gang members in New York City.
RELATED STORIES: Scammer Anna Sorokin Out On Bond After Using Funds From Her Art Sales
The luxury apartments were used to house gang members.
Latoya Williams,35, was charged with aggravated identity theft and wire fraud on October 5. According to The New York Times, federal investigators suspected she was involved in gang activity after her phone number was listed as “Toya’s Apartments” on the phone of a man who was killed in Queens in February 2021. The victim was reportedly associated with the Makk Balla Brims street gang, and officers later discovered other gang members had been living in a Yonkers apartment rented by Williams.
The phone number was also listed under several apartments in Brooklyn that other gang members used. In one apartment, officers found five guns and said Williams falsified tax returns, bank statements, social security numbers, and driver’s licenses to rent the units under different names. Allegedly, she also paid for some of the rentals by using unemployment benefit cards.
Members of the Makk Balla Brims sector were under investigation in 2019 after they were accused of increased violence throughout New York City. The Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office charged 17 members in a racketeering case. During the indictment, it was reported that the issue stemmed from multiple armed robberies in Long Island and Queens. Most victims were families with Indian flags posted outside their homes, and one member robbed a home while wearing a UPS jacket.
RELATED STORIES: Woman Loses $390K After Meeting Crypto-Scammer On Hinge
Latoya Williams would falsify documents to rent multiple luxury apartments throughout the five boroughs
A criminal complaint said the apartments had unpaid or underpaid balances and uncollected fees. The address she used to fill out rental applications was connected to her home on West 61st Street, an address she used back in June to report a stolen Bentley from a parking garage. During other searches of the apartments, investigators said they were vacant.
“This has resulted, among other things, in lawsuits and debt collections being initiated against victims of identity theft in order to collect money owed for apartments leased fraudulently in their names.”
While searching Williams’ apartment in the Upper West Side, police found a hundred thousand dollars in her bedframe. After making her first court appearance, she was released on a $250,000 bond.