FORREST CITY, AR (abc24.com) - Thousands of dollars stolen from more than 100 victims and just one woman is accused of the crimes.
Yolanda Drone from Forrest City is at the center of a massive identity fraud investigation. Cops say she's been at it for years and her victims include people living in Memphis.
Drone is facing 10 financial identity fraud charges. Police say there are a total of 128 victims and as the investigation continues they may find more victims and file more charges.
Yolanda Drone is behind bars on a $100,000 bond. Police say her victims could be worse off.
“When someone steals your identity, using your name, it can affect your credit; it can affect other areas of your life,” said Forrest City Police Chief Ed Reynolds.
Reynolds first got wind of it from a two other police departments.
“The more we dug into this issue we began to find more and more on this person, this perpetrator,” Reynolds said.
That led police to Drone's house, where they say they found more than one hundred people's financial records inside. Some date back to the 1990's.
“She opened several accounts in other people's names, accounts with several banks in the area, cell phone accounts she opened up, retail stores she opened up accounts,” Reynolds said.
Police say Drone bilked thousands of dollars from victims across the Mid-South and beyond.
“We're talking Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio,” Reynolds said.
That prompted a massive investigation with police departments around the country, along with the Feds.
“That's crazy,” said Drone’s neighbor, Kiara Spearman.
When Spearman thinks about people accused of similar crimes, she imagines Bernie Madoff, Wall Street fat cats and crooked execs of big corporations. Not her neighbor.
She said Drone didn't strike her as that kind of person, "not at all."
But police say Drone was calculating and methodical. They believe she may have had help ripping of more than a hundred people and more arrests could be on the way.
Police are encouraging people to watch their bank statements and financial records like a hawk. Be sure to check with the three major credit bureaus at least once a year to make sure nothing fraudulent is on your credit report.
