An Augusta woman scammed a victim out of $1,800 by saying she worked for a local law firm, according to authorities.
Yvette Ivy, 45, of Augusta, was charged Tuesday with felony theft by deception.
The victim was trying to get help for her husband, who was locked up and needed to get bonded out. A friend of the victim referred her to TMP Financial to help her with legal issues, according to a sheriff’s report.
She spoke with Ivy by cell phone about obtaining their business’s assistance in her husband’s legal matters, a sheriff’s report says.
“She met with (Ivy) at a Starbucks and they spoke in person where (Ivy) requested a $3,000 fee and requested a $1,800 down payment for their services,” the report says.
Ivy said she was affiliated with an Augusta firm, which she named. She said she could help with her husband’s bond and case by working closely with the victim and ensuring that everything would be fine.
The suspect appeared in court last Monday but she stayed in the back of the courtroom and never stood up or introduced herself in the court as representing the victim’s husband. The victim spoke with the real lawyer after the court date and the lawyer stated that he never heard of TMP and he advised her to report the fraud, the report says.
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