A woman almost had a million-dollar come-up after she stole the identity of an NBA player. Annie M. Ford of Georgia recently admitted in court that she lifted the identity of a basketball player and attempted to obtain a $2.5 million loan back in 2013. While the Department of Justice didn't name the NBA baller in their public report other than he was a resident of New Jersey at the time of the nefarious scheme, they did share details of how the 51-year-old went about her scam.
In the Fall of 2013, Ford reportedly contacted a New York lending company to get the multi-million dollar loan and used fake documents she created with the NBA player's name. She had a partner in the scam who acted as her "attorney" while also reportedly pretending to be the NBA player during phone calls with the lender. Ford forged the baller's signatures on submitted documents and the money was to be deposited in Ford's bank account.
She has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. For the wire charge alone she's looking at upwards of 20 years in prison with a possible 250K fine tacked on or "twice the gross gain or loss from the offense." As for the identity theft charge is concerned, Ford could receive two years behind bars.
It'll be a few months before Ford will know just how long she'll be in prison because the sentencing phase of her case won't happen until March 2020. The real question is: Who was the player?
