INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — A Charlotte woman is in jail Thursday after federal investigators said she and her ex-husband devised a scheme to steal unemployment benefits.
Investigators said in a federal complaint that the suspects set up a fake business and stole people's identities and money that was supposed to go to people in need.
A judge said Thursday Letitia Johnson can bond out of jail after she turned herself in Monday for her alleged role in the complex wire-fraud scheme that pulled in around $194,000.
Channel 9 went through business registration records that showed Letitia Johnson and her ex-husband Michael Johnson created the company Optimum Touch Lawn Care Service in 2006.
Court records allege the Johnsons claimed they were let go at the company as a way to rake in unemployment benefits.
Investigators said the Johnsons went onto buy and manage a now-closed business in an Indian Trail strip mall called Identiti Hair Salon where they allegedly stole the identity of three employees and collected those unemployment benefits too.
Neither Johnson's attorney nor their family had any comment after court Tuesday.
The judge ordered Michael Johnson to remain in jail.
WSOC
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