ANTIGO — Last week, a Shawano woman charged with ten counts of fraud against a financial institution failed to appear for her scheduled hearing at the Langlade County Courthouse.
Though a statewide bench warrant was issued, the woman, 36-year-old Samantha Johnson, was actually already in the Taycheedah Correctional Institution after being sentenced Aug. 23 to five years in prison in Brown County for running a check fraud scheme through which she stole more than $30,000 from companies, government agencies, and a VFW post. Langlade County officials apparently had been unaware of this.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Langlade County, however, which was filed Aug. 22, the charges against Samantha Johnson, 36, stem from 2022, when CoVantage Credit Union employees contacted the Antigo Police Department about individuals using remote deposit capture, a feature of CoVantage’s app, to commit fraud.
Through remote deposit capture, customers can deposit checks they receive from others simply by taking a photo of them. The person can then withdraw money from their own account at an ITM (interactive teller machine) — even, apparently, if the account from which the money was deposited has no money in it. Even though the checks are eventually rejected as fraudulent, people can receive up to $225 immediately.