Latoya Clark was on her way to court where she is on trial for her alleged role in a $29m fraud, when she was arrested after a licence plate reader flagged her vehicle as stolen
A woman on trial over a multi-million dollar fraud plot was arrested on her way to the court – when cops discovered she was driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen.
Latoya Clark, 39, is on trial for her alleged role in a conspiracy to defraud $29 million from US Government COVID-relief loan and grant programs, reports The Smoking Gun.
The outlet said on Wednesday, she was just blocks away from the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida when a licence plate reader flagged her vehicle as being stolen.
Clark, from Florida, was driving a 2025 Ram ProMaster cargo van when she was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy around 8.30 in the morning.
Clark was handcuffed after she got out of the vehicle, an an officer explained why she was being detained.
“Oh, I know why,” Clark reportedly said, adding that she was en route to the courthouse “because she is on trial for a federal crime”.
According to court records, Clark hired the van two months ago in a one-day rental from U-Haul. When she failed to return the vehicle, it was reported stolen.
Charged with a felony, Clark was booked into the county jail. That meant she was unable to turn up for her scheduled appearance that morning in the federal court, where she was indicted in May for conspiracy, money laundering, and wire fraud.
Prosecutors allege that Clark and five co-defendants were involved in a years-long scheme to file fake COVID-relief applications.
The alleged fraudsters are said to have submitted 92 bogus claims, which netted them $29 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds – money that was eventually laundered through a web of shell companies.
Clark, who allegedly controlled three corporations used in the fraud operation, was free on $250,000 bond in the federal case. Several of the felonies for which Clark was charged carry maximum 20-year prison sentences.
Following her arrest in the stolen van, Clark’s bond was revoked by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon rejected a defence argument that Clark’s retention of the U-Haul van was down to “poverty, desperation, and survival” and that she was living out of the stolen wheels.
A jury in the federal case was selected on Tuesday and opening arguments were scheduled for yesterday (December 17).
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