Woman Charged with Identity Theft, Stealing ATM Card from Stoughton Victim

WEYMOUTH, MA — A former Weymouth resident was charged Thursday with stealing debit cards that were used to withdraw cash from the victims' bank accounts, authorities say.

Sophiah Acloque, 33, was indicted in U.S. District Court Thursday on three counts of bank fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of theft of public mail. She was originally charged in June, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

In December 2015, Bank of America contacted federal investigators after detecting a fraudulent debit card scheme. It is alleged that Acloque posed as bank customers living in Massachusetts and called Bank of America to request a new debit cards and PIN numbers. Acloque allegedly stole the cards from the mail and used them to take money from the account. The account holder was not aware of the scheme as it was happening.

On Jan. 25, Acloque was identified as a participant in the debit card scheme when she was observed taking mail from a mailbox in Cambridge. The resident had not ordered a new card but had been advised by Bank of America that one had been ordered and was expected to arrive around Jan. 25. A subsequent search of Acloque’s car revealed mail addressed to the Cambridge resident, including a Bank of America envelope containing an ATM card and a second envelope containing a PIN.
Authoritys say Acloque used the Bank of America ATM cards to withdraw cash belonging to three account

holders residing in Cambridge, Stoughton and Milton and with stealing mail, including an ATM card and PIN number, from the mail box of the Cambridge resident mentioned above.

If convicted, Acloque faces up to 30 years in prison, five years of probation and a $1 million fine for the bank fraud charges. The aggravated identify theft charges has a mandatory sentence of two years in prison. The charge of theft of public mail has a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney's office. Arrests and charges mentioned don't imply conviction.