A 32-year-old woman from Minot has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for stealing money from tribal members she stole the identity of.
According to the Department of Justice, Ranita Lynn Freeman defrauded the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration over three years, posing as two MHA Nation tribal members.
According to the press release, between August 2020 and January 2021, Freeman stole $42,000 from one tribal member’s Individual Indian Money account and, again between January and April 2023, she stole $9,500 from a second tribal member’s IIM account — $51,500 in total.
Freeman would call the BTFA Berthold Agency, using the victims’ names and dates of birth to obtain the funds. Federal investigators eventually identified her by comparing her voice to recordings of the fraudulent calls. She is ordered to pay full restitution.
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