Alleged check casher for ID theft ring arrested in Fla.; Fed chair’s wife among ring’s victims

Check casher for ID theft ring arrested in Miami

MIAMI — A woman accused of being the check casher for an identity theft ring that targeted the wife of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is awaiting a court hearing in Miami.

Shonya Michelle Young, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., is expected to appear in federal court Tuesday afternoon. She was arrested Monday and held at a federal detention center on a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Young was a “major check casher” for the ring. Marshals spokesman Barry Golden says Young used wigs to impersonate victims while cashing illegal checks.

Authorities say the ring stole Anna Bernanke’s purse from a Capitol Hill coffee shop in August 2008 and someone started cashing checks using their bank account days later.