A 59-year-old New York woman was sentenced to serve 10 years, four months in prison last week after she had entered no contest pleas to one count of felony grand theft and eleven counts of felony identity theft, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced.
Between May 2014 and September 2016, Humadai Humadai used the personal identifying information belonging to six Davis residents to obtain multiple loans and credit cards without the victims’ knowledge or permission. To facilitate her criminal activities, Humadai created multiple unauthorized and fraudulent e-mail accounts, credit monitoring services, and a bank account with the victims’ stolen identities.
The first incident was reported to the Davis Police Department in 2016 when one of the victims was sued in civil court for her failure to repay a loan that Humadai fraudulently obtained in 2014. Shortly after the initial report, additional victims came forward when they discovered tens of thousands of dollars of loans were taken out in their names without authorization. The estimated loss was in excess of $200,000.
While the investigation was ongoing, Humadai left California and moved to New York in 2017, working as a caregiver. Through the concerted efforts between New York law enforcement agencies and the Davis Police Department, Humadai was successfully extradited back to California in March.
Deputy District Attorney Alvina Tzang prosecuted the case and praised the dedicated efforts of the Davis Police Department.
“Justice was served because of the exemplary work by the officers and detectives of the Davis Police Department, in particular Police Services Specialist Janet Chaney, who had spent countless hours reviewing voluminous documents and gathering evidence,” Tzang said.
She continued: “Identity theft is more than just a financial crime. Victims of identity theft frequently find their credit records ruined that could take years to repair. It could lead to lawsuits, false arrests and imprisonment, which would have significant impact on a victim financially, emotionally and physically.”
