Local woman accused of lavish spending using stolen personal information, police say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A Central Florida woman is accused of stealing other people's identities to fund a lavish spending spree, investigators said.

Sena Howell, 29, is accused of buying everything from luxury cars to expensive jewelry.

One victim told Channel 9's Jeff Deal that the suspect even had a fake driver's license with all of the victim's information, but the suspect's photo.

Howell is accused of buying a $32,000 Mercedes Benz in Maitland, a $47,000 Mercedes SUV in Orlando and an $85,000 Cadillac in Orange County.

One victim told Eyewitness News that she first noticed a problem when she got an email receipt from Macy's for purchases on her store account. Then a week or two later she started receiving bills in the mail for thousands of dollars from places like Target, WalMart, Sears and Best Buy. All were from store card accounts that she never opened.

White-collar crime investigators told Eyewitness News that each store is different when it comes to detecting fraud, and how close the employees watch it.

The victim told Eyewitness News that she believes her information may have been originally compromised through a doctor's office.

In March, Orange County deputies caught up with Howell inside the Florida Mall. Investigators said she was in a jewelry store trying to buy a $13,000 Rolex watch on someone else’s credit when the store employee became suspicious.

Howell has been arrested in Sarasota, and in Pinellas County within the past year trying to pass fake $100 bills, investigators said.

Now her case is going federal with prosecutors going after her for all the alleged credit card fraud.

Investigators said Howell confessed to using three different counterfeit ID’s to buy the three luxury cars.

Cox Media Group