Last Friday in federal court, a 34-year-old Maplewood woman was sentenced for her role in a scheme that was using the names and personal identification information of others on fraudulent checks resulting in a total attempted loss of more than $300,000. United States District Court Judge David S. Doty sentenced Nou Thao to time already served along with 180 days at a community corrections center on one count of bank fraud conspiracy. Thao was indicted on September 15, 2010, along with Jason Richard Hansen, age 33, of Crystal, and Jason Elliott Clark, age 40, of Cottage Grove. Thao pleaded guilty on February 17, 2011.
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Hansen worked for a mortgage loan subsidiary company and had access to the personal identification and financial information of people who applied for mortgage loans. He admittedly stole that information and provided it to Benson, who then used it to create fraudulent checks and obtain cash. Thao admitted acquiring checks containing stolen information and depositing those checks into her bank account in order to obtain cash. In addition, she allowed her bank account to be used during the conspiracy to deposit wire transfers from the bank accounts of the conspiracy victims.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Minnesota.