Chicago — A Chicago woman has been charged with identity theft for allegedly using a fraudulent credit card to buy more than $5,000 worth of furniture and have it delivered to her downtown high-rise apartment.
“I’m not sure what the long-term thought process was on that,” Judge Charles Beach wondered before releasing Lovie Diggs on her own recognizance Thursday.
Diggs, who owns a cleaning service, used a credit card to order furniture worth $5,198 from Bob’s Discount Furniture in Calumet City on November 18, prosecutor Alexander Ponetzki said during her bail hearing.
Wells Fargo notified the cardholder five days later about the purchase, but the woman told the bank she had never opened a credit card with them and had never purchased anything from Bob’s Discount Furniture, according to Ponetzki. According to surveillance video from Bob’s, a Black man and a Black woman made the purchase, but the alleged cardholder is White, Ponetzki continued.
Bob’s delivered the furniture to Digg’s apartment in the first block of East Chestnut on November 23. Ponetzki said Digg’s name is on the apartment lease. Leasing documents reviewed by investigators allegedly include a driver’s license with a fake number that bears Diggs’ face.
Diggs, 30, is charged with identity theft. She has no criminal background.
Her private defense attorney, Jeff Kent, said she is raising her 10-year-old daughter alone and also runs an annual coat drive for the less fortunate.
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