Lehi police arrest woman on reports of wire fraud, dog selling scam
- May 17, 2017
A woman was arrested Tuesday by Lehi police officers on reports of fraudulently cashing wire checks and trying to fraudulently sell dogs over the internet.
Police were dispatched to a grocery store Tuesday on reports of a woman attempting to collect money from a Western Union branch. Employees reported the woman came in several times to collect cash, but with a different ID each time.
Police spoke with the woman at the store, explaining the situation. The woman gave police a Texas driver’s license, but police determined it was fraudulent, according to the police report. She insisted the driver’s license was valid, but eventually she reportedly disclosed her name was Bertilla Tantoh.
Police searched Tantoh’s vehicle and found 15 different driver’s licenses out of several different states, all with Tantoh’s photo on them, but with different names, according to the report.
Police determined she’d been receiving wire transfers after telling people online she had dogs for sale. Tantoh would arrange for dog sales online and ask for a money transfer before the dog could be sold. She would then pick up the money transfer using various identities, but a dog was never sold, reports state.
Tantoh was booked into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of three third-degree felonies of theft by deception, four third-degree felonies of forgery, six class A misdemeanors of theft by deception and one class B misdemeanor of theft by deception.
Her bail has been set at $25,000 cash only.
