Woman Uses Dead Man’s Info To Obtain Nearly $40K In Loans

May 19, 2018 at 3:44 a.m.


A North Webster woman was arrested earlier this week after allegedly using a dead man’s Social Security number to obtain over $39,000 in fraudulent loans.

April Louise Sechrist, 45, of 26 E. North St., North Webster, was arrested and booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 6:11 p.m. Wednesday for identity deception, a level 6 felony. Her preliminary bond was set at $5,250.

On April 4, Warsaw Police Department officer Ryan Coble received a phone call referencing a fraud on a financial institution from an employee at Via Credit Union. Coble met with the employee the next day who told him Via conducted an audit in which they could not find four active loan files, all in Angela Steiner’s name.

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The employee said the information for the loans was incorrect. The Social Security number used returned to a deceased man, the address does not exist and the employment information also was not correct.

The loans were believed to have been opened by an employee, Sechrist, who left the bank for medical reasons Feb. 26, 2016, and no more advances were given on the loans, according to court documents.

The Via employee said when Sechrist’s account deposits were compared with withdrawals from Steiner’s loans, the dates corresponded.

The bank has a loss on the four outstanding loans of $39,205.27. The loans were created and used between Oct. 5, 2009, through and including Jan. 1, 2017.

Coble spoke with Sechrist, who admitted she created Angela Steiner and used that fake name and fake information to obtain the fraudulent loans from Via Credit Union.

The Social Security number Sechrist used to create the accounts belonged to a man who died in 1996.

A North Webster woman was arrested earlier this week after allegedly using a dead man’s Social Security number to obtain over $39,000 in fraudulent loans.

April Louise Sechrist, 45, of 26 E. North St., North Webster, was arrested and booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 6:11 p.m. Wednesday for identity deception, a level 6 felony. Her preliminary bond was set at $5,250.

On April 4, Warsaw Police Department officer Ryan Coble received a phone call referencing a fraud on a financial institution from an employee at Via Credit Union. Coble met with the employee the next day who told him Via conducted an audit in which they could not find four active loan files, all in Angela Steiner’s name.

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The employee said the information for the loans was incorrect. The Social Security number used returned to a deceased man, the address does not exist and the employment information also was not correct.

The loans were believed to have been opened by an employee, Sechrist, who left the bank for medical reasons Feb. 26, 2016, and no more advances were given on the loans, according to court documents.

The Via employee said when Sechrist’s account deposits were compared with withdrawals from Steiner’s loans, the dates corresponded.

The bank has a loss on the four outstanding loans of $39,205.27. The loans were created and used between Oct. 5, 2009, through and including Jan. 1, 2017.

Coble spoke with Sechrist, who admitted she created Angela Steiner and used that fake name and fake information to obtain the fraudulent loans from Via Credit Union.

The Social Security number Sechrist used to create the accounts belonged to a man who died in 1996.
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