Texas woman accused of bank fraud in Mississippi and 5 other states. Here’s more.
A federal judge in Gulfport on Monday ordered a woman held without bond pending a detention hearing following her 11-count indictment on federal charges accusing her of creating and using fraudulent identification to commit bank fraud at banks in Mississippi and at least five other states.
Cristina Michele Husbands, 48, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and ten counts of bank fraud for crimes committed between November 2021 and April 2022 at Regions Bank branches in Mississippi, resulting in a loss of an estimate $128,300.
Husbands is accused of committing bank fraud at additional bank branches in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas, the records say.
To carry out the scheme, Husbands is accused of conspiring with others, both known and unknown to the grand jury, to create fraudulent identification papers.
In Mississippi, at least two customers have been identified as victims so far.
According to the charging documents, Husbands allegedly stole the money by posing as account holders on the home equity line of credit loans using fraudulent documentation, such as a fake driver’s license and a fraudulent date of birth and home address, to gain access to the accounts.
She used the fake information to obtain cashier’s checks and cash from accounts. in Mississippi during various visits to Regions Bank branches in the state. Here’s a look at the transactions:
On Jan. 12, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $16,000 from a home equity line of credit loan of the customer, S.S., from the Regions Bank branch in Richland in Rankin County.
.On Jan. 12, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $15,700 from the home equity line of credit loan of customer, S.S. from the Regions Bank branch in Jackson in Hinds County.
On Jan. 13, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $16,100 from the home equity line of credit loan of customer, A.W., at a Regions Bank branch in Pearl in Rankin County.
On Jan. 13, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $16,300 from a home equity line of credit loan of customer A.W., along with $13,000 in cash from the same account holder’s account at the Regions Bank branch in Pearl in Rankin County.
On Jan. 13, 2022, Husbands obtained $16,100 cash from the home equity line of credit loan of S.S. at the Regions Bank branch in Brandon in Rankin County.
On Jan. 14, 2022, Husbands obtained $17,000 from the home equity line of credit loan for victim A.W. at the Regions Bank branch in Hattiesburg in Forrest County.
On Jan. 19, 2022, Husbands obtained $4,000 in cash from the saving account of A.W. at the Regions Bank branch in Gulfport in Harrison County.
On Jan. 20, 2022, Husbands obtained two cashier’s checks totaling $18,800 from A.W.’s home equity line of credit loan and $700 in cash from the same account at the Regions Bank branch in Gulfport in Harrison County.
Husbands arrived in Mississippi following her transfer from the Hayes County jail in San Marco, Texas. She was being held in Texas on state charges of fraud, forgery, possession of forging instruments, drug possession, identity theft, property theft, and evading arrest.
Each of the 11 federal charges pending against Husbands in Mississippi carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison, up to a $1 million fine and up to five years of post-release supervision.
On Monday, Judge Robert Myers appointed federal public defender Ellen Allred to represent Husbands, who has an address in Dallas, Texas.
A detention hearing is set for Wednesday, and her tentative trial date is set for the three-week calendar beginning May 1 in federal court in Gulfport.
