Cash
A Georgia woman admitted to stealing more than $165,000 from the $18.4 billion Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa, Fla., using a phony driver’s license, a credit card, and cash advances that she withdrew from accounts and ITM transactions.
Coretta Bates, 31, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty on Dec. 11 to one felony count of aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Tampa said. The date of her sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
In October 2023, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office began a bank fraud investigation with assistance from Suncoast when they determined an unidentified woman was opening various accounts with a fraudulent North Carolina driver’s license.
The woman was later identified as Coretta Bates, who used the fake driver’s license to open an account at Suncoast in the name of “SLD.” The credit union approved the application in May 2023 and issued a credit card to “SLD” with a $20,000 credit limit.
She then made 21 credit card cash advances totaling $71,900 and transferred those funds to checking and savings accounts. Bates later withdrew those funds at ITMs from May to July 2023.
A joint U.S. Secret Service and Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office investigation revealed that there were numerous accounts in different names that the same individual depicted in the “SLD” driver license had opened during the same time last year.
Investigators contacted the real “SLD” and confirmed that she had not contacted the credit union or opened any accounts there.
The bank fraud activity from the “SLD” and other related accounts caused the credit union to suffer actual losses of approximately $165,117, according to federal court documents.
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