Montana Feds Pinch Woman For Allegedly Forging Hubby's Name On POA, Loan Documents To Pocket Proceeds From Fraudulently-Obtained HELOC

In Billings, Montana, the Billings Gazette reports:

• A Billings woman suspected of impersonating a nurse at a local hospital is facing federal bank and wire fraud charges.
  
  Appearing for arraignment Tuesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby, defendant Angela Corson Smith, 32, was charged with a series of crimes accusing her of defrauding banks and individuals of thousands of dollars by lying about her health, family and work.
  
  Smith pleaded not guilty to an eight-count indictment charging her with bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, false statements to a bank and wire fraud.

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• The indictment accuses Smith of three schemes.
  
  In the bank fraud scheme, Smith is accused of defrauding Altana Federal Credit Union of $27,300 by getting a home equity loan on a residence owned by her husband, identified as B.S., without his permission. The money was for her personal use, the indictment said.
  
  Smith applied for the home equity loan on Oct. 23, 2009, by forging a power of attorney representing she had her husband's authority to get the loan, the indictment said. Smith also forged her husband's signature on the loan documents.
  
  About three years later, on Nov. 5, 2012, Altana contacted Smith about delinquent loan payments. Smith lied and told the credit union that her daughter had died the day before of leukemia and that she would be unable to make the payments because of medical and funeral expenses related to her daughter's death, causing Altana to defer four loan payments, indictment said.
  
  Smith's daughter was not suffering from leukemia and didn't die, the indictment noted.

For the story, see Billings woman charged with fraud.