(Photo Illustration by The Real Deal with Getty)
A Virginia couple were sentenced to prison for using one of their real estate jobs to steal people’s identities.
Prosecutors said 51-year-old Caprice Foster and her husband 33-year-old Marcus Foster used false identification, tax and employment documents to buy luxury vehicles, lease high-end residences and get loans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The pair stole the identities of at least nine victims through Caprice’s job as a real estate agent and timeshare salesperson. The couple is based in Merrifield, a census-designated place located about 10 miles from the Washington, D.C. suburb of Arlington, Virginia.
In addition to creating an incorporated business using the stolen identities, Marcus was charged with impersonating some of the victims in state court eviction proceedings to extend the couple’s stay in their fraudulently leased homes.
The Fosters ultimately confessed to stealing a total of $632,517, Richmond’s WRIC reported.
Caprice was sentenced to 80 months in prison and Marcus was sentenced to 58 months.
Identity theft was also at the center of a a New York City woman’s arrest earlier this month after investigators said rented luxury apartments for gang members.
Authorities said Latoya Williams used falsified tax returns, bank statements, Social Security numbers and driver licenses to rent the apartments in other people’s names so she could avoid paying for them. The scheme affected more than 10 victims of identity fraud.
Investigators first suspected Williams’ involvement in the city’s violent gang life when her phone number, listed under the name “Toya Apartments,” was found on the cellphone of a man killed in broad daylight in Queens in February 2021.
— Victoria Pruitt
