A Tennessee woman, Alicia England, 32, from Chattanooga, has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. This development was announced by Russ Ferguson, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
The case involves fraudulent deed transfers and property sales across North Carolina and other states. Jason Byrnes, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service's Charlotte Field Office, joined U.S. Attorney Ferguson in announcing this update.
Court documents reveal that between October 2022 and August 2024, England orchestrated a scheme involving fake deeds for residential properties. The scheme also included the misuse of personal identifying information (PII) belonging to property owners. In total, at least 19 properties valued over $1.4 million were involved.
England admitted in court to stealing identities from both living and deceased individuals to facilitate her scheme. She used these stolen identities to open bank accounts and file fraudulent deeds for real estate transactions on properties she did not own. Among her tactics was using falsified trust documents under the name VGR, a deceased individual. She filed fraudulent quitclaim deeds transferring multiple real estate parcels from identity theft victims to the VGR Trust before advertising these properties for sale online.
The proceeds from these sales were wired into bank accounts controlled by England, including those in her name as well as accounts linked to the VGR Trust and other identity theft victims.
England faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for wire fraud and an additional mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. She has been released on bond pending sentencing which is yet to be scheduled.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson expressed gratitude towards the U.S. Secret Service for their investigation efforts along with assistance from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Ryan is prosecuting this case.
