Two women from Bremerton have pleaded guilty to federal charges after being accused of running a large-scale identity theft and bank fraud operation that scammed countless victims out of sums totaling more than $200,000.
Emily Vranic, 34, entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on June 11. Along with a second woman, 37-year-old Heather Marquis, the pair are believed to have stolen an estimated $229,000 in a five-year-long scheme that capitalized on victims’ stolen private documents until they were arrested by the Bremerton Police Department in Nov. 2024. In a statement from the United States Department of Justice, Vranic’s change in plea follows Marquis’ guilty plea last month.
Starting in 2019, the pair primarily stole from victims across Kitsap, Mason and Pierce counties by intercepting their mail containing sensitive identifying and financial information. Vranic and Marquis rerouted mailing addresses to their home in Navy Yard City, then drained bank accounts and opened new lines of credit under the stolen identity to pay their personal expenses such as their monthly mortgage payment. Bremerton police, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case…