Esther Elizabeth Reed: Is it the end of the road for her?
Photo by: Wolfgang Staud
Esther Elizabeth Reed was arrested by the State Police in Chicago on February 3rd this year. Law enforcement agencies have charged her with identity theft and other fraud-related charges. Originally from Townsend, Montana, authorities have accused her of using stolen identities to gain admissions to top universities in the US. She is said to have lived under six stolen identities starting from March 2001. The charges claim she availed of loans worth $100,000 from universities using these fake identities.
Esther befriended her last boyfriend assuming one of these identities. She pursued the relationship by presenting herself as a chess champion. Later, she talked his mother, who was a professor at the Grand Valley State University in Michigan, into giving her recommendations for admission to the Columbia University. Her identity switch was part of a witness protection program, they were told.
Reed has also been charged with other types of fraud. She is said to have made false receipts at home and used them to claim refunds for products she actually never bought.
When she was arrested, Esther was pretending to be Brooke Henson, a woman who has been missing since 1999. Police first caught Reed sporting this name in July 2006 in New York. When questioned, Reed was then able to provide correct answers to questions relating to Henson and her family. But Police, still suspicious, asked her to take a DNA test. She refused and went missing.
Reed had been absconding ever since, until Police arrested her in February this year. If prosecutors are able to prove their charges, she may have to bear a prison sentence of 47 years apart from a fine of $1 million.
Source: greenvilleonline.com
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