Cedar Rapids Woman Charged with 33 Fraud Counts

Sarah Ann Godsey, 33, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been charged with 11 counts of bank fraud, 15 counts of mail fraud, three counts of access device fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft. The charges are contained in an indictment filed on January 26, 2011, in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids.

The indictment alleges that Godsey worked for a Japanese technology company located in Cedar Rapids and, beginning around October 2005 and continuing through around January 2007, forged checks and used them for her own benefit and conducted electronic bank transfers for her own benefit. Godsey is alleged to have altered bank statements and mailed them to her employer’s headquarters out of state to conceal the scheme. The indictment also alleges Godsey used three different credit cards with the intent to defraud and used the identities of another person in furtherance of the credit card fraud.

If convicted on all charges, Godsey faces a possible maximum sentence of 846 years’ imprisonment, a $28,500,000 fine, $3300 in special assessments, and 147 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

Godsey’s first appearance in federal court in Cedar Rapids for an arraignment is set for February 1, 2011.

As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean Berry and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 11-18.