PASADENA, Texas – Pasadena police said for five months, 32-year-old Amberly Balser created fake loan documents using the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of previous loan customers, many of whom are deceased, and kept the money for herself.
She took out more than $17,000, police said, in fraudulent loans.
“Someone else inside the business had noticed they kept receiving a lot of complaints about loans that were originated by Amberly Balser and went to alert the owner,” Lt. James Holt with the Pasadena Police Department said.
According to court documents, the president of Guarantee Loan Service discovered that of the 48 victims, 12 were over the age of 65 and eight were deceased.
Police said there is no indication Balser, who worked on and off for Guarantee Loan Service, had any help.
Court documents also say Balser exclusively processed and managed each of the fraudulently opened loans.
According to the criminal complaint, the company’s president also told police Balser slightly altered a victim's address or telephone number in the computer system in an attempt to make it impossible to contact a victim and reduce the risk of uncovering her fraudulent scheme.
Police said this is a good reminder to always monitor your credit report and banking statements.
“If you see any suspicious or unusual activity on your credit report or banking statement, you need to notify your bank immediately. You need to notify the police department immediately,” Holt said.