A Kissimmee woman was arrested after using information stolen from a deputy’s niece to attempt cashing a fraudulent check for a $12,500 loan.
An officer got a phone call from a Sumter County deputy on Friday, Oct. 3, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. Someone, later identified as 36-year-old Courtney Marie Skiffington, was using his niece’s personal information to get a check for a $12,500 loan.
Skiffington tried to cash the check at Ace Cash Express, located at 1346 W North Blvd., at about 4:50 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, using the niece’s driver’s license information. So, the officer went to the loan agency and met with the employee who handled the attempted fraud, the report said.
The employee advised that Skiffington came to the agency with only the fraudulent license and a $12,500 check from OneMain Financial to get it cashed. While processing the application, the employee inspected the ID and the check. Skiffington joked that her ID looked strange because the DMV made an error, the report said.
However, when the employee looked closer, she noticed the font looked off and put the ID under a UV light. Skiffington got upset and aggressive, then started questioning the procedure. The employee still called OneMain Financial and learned the check was valid, the report said.
Concerned the ID was fake, the employee contacted OneMain Financial again and alerted them to what she discovered. Skiffington was then asked to show her ID a second time, which made her impatient. She refused, demanded her check back, claimed she had to pick up her children and fled the business without it, the report said.
The officer later learned Skiffington had gone to OneMain Financial, located at 715 N 14th St., Suite A, for the loan on Sept. 29. The branch manager remembered she wanted the money on a debit card, but the bank did not issue money that way and gave her a check instead, the report said.
The manager also advised that Skiffington had just called into the store saying her check was damaged and wanted to know if she could get a replacement. He set an appointment for her to come get one between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. She did not show up until 3:40 p.m. and was asked to give a written explanation of what happened to the original check, which she signed with the niece’s name, the report said.
The officer was in the store at the time acting as a customer requesting a loan. When she was done, she was taken into custody. The LPD also had a similar case with Skiffington trying to cash the same check at Mariner Financial, located at 10601 U.S. Hwy. 441, Suite C7, with charges forthcoming, the report said.
Skiffington was charged with grand theft ($10k-$20k), two counts of forgery (make/alter/forge), two counts of ID theft ($5k-$50k loss) and two counts of DL (possess blank/altered/forged/stolen). The Massachusetts native was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $20,000.