Embezzling suspect held after trying to buy SUV

A woman on the lam for allegedly embezzling more than $500,000 from two former employers in the San Francisco Bay Area is sitting in jail in Everett after masquerading as an Everett business owner in an attempt to buy a $38,000 SUV, police say.

The 38-year-old suspect was arrested Thursday night at her Mill Creek home after a whirlwind investigation by Everett police, who had feared she might flee the area before they could find her, said Sgt. Mark Thacker.

The contents of her purse: $1,611 cash; several photo IDs; a badge identifying her as a financial-fraud agent for the Internal Revenue Service; dozens of credit cards, driver's licenses and Social Security cards bearing assorted aliases; Bay Area rapid-transit tickets; blue and yellow sticky-tab notes with scribbled Social Security numbers; and personal mementos.

"This one knows how to work the system," said Thacker, who called her a "high-end, prolific identity thief."

The woman allegedly tried to buy a Chevy TrailBlazer from a Bothell dealership, using a California driver's license bearing her photo and the name of her Everett boss.

Thacker said the woman filled out the paperwork Oct. 2, then on Oct. 9 forged a $38,000 check at her Everett employer's business, where she worked in the accounting department. The check never was delivered, he said.

When another accounting employee noticed the check's existence in the company database, the suspect initially claimed it was to purchase computer software, police said.

The company owner recognized the "payee" name as similar to a car dealership, made a call and discovered the TrailBlazer was being purchased in her name, Thacker said.

The business fired the suspect, reported the case to police Monday and asked a computer expert to study the contents of the woman's work computer, said Detective Molly Spellman.

Internet cookies revealed e-mails bearing the woman's real name, which, when run through the Google search engine, turned up Bay Area newspaper reports about her criminal history in Berkeley and Foster City, Spellman said.

The company called Bay Area authorities and passed on its finding to Everett detectives, who tracked the suspect to Mill Creek.

Spellman took advantage of Thursday's windstorm and power outages, telling the woman she represented a local utility company before making the arrest.

An Everett District Court judge Friday ordered the woman held on $75,000 bail for investigation of first-degree identity theft and forgery. She also is being held on three California felony warrants, including one with a no-bail provision.

"We have to get together with the federal prosecutor, state prosecutor, and be in communication with the district attorneys in San Mateo and Alameda counties to organize and investigate the charging," Thacker said.

Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com