On November 5th, the Casa Grande Police Department arrested 51 year old local resident Sonia Ellis for her involvement in a nationwide laptop scam.
On Monday, November 2nd, Detectives of the Casa Grande Police Department received information regarding (3) HP Z Notebooks in their original packaging that were pawned at a local pawn shop. These Notebooks, a type of high-end laptop, have a high value and, along with being in their original packaging, created suspicion with the reporting party. Detectives then began an in-depth investigation which led them to a much larger scam.
Detectives traced the Notebooks back to a company in Pennsylvania that sold 15 of them to a company in Georgia. This company then sent the 15 Notebooks to whom they believed was a George Washington University representative. They were sent without receiving payment because they utilize a purchasing order method. Unfortunately, the George Washington University representative was actually a local resident named Sonia Ellis.
Detectives have determined Ms. Ellis pawned (3) of the Notebooks here in Casa Grande and (4) more in the City of Mesa. A search warrant was executed at Ms. Ellis’ residence in the 300 block of North Lincoln Avenue and the remaining 8 Notebooks were located there. The 15 Notebooks are valued at just over $20,000. Ms. Ellis’ level of involvement is still under investigation.
Sonia Ellis was booked into the Pinal County Adult Detention Center. Charges of Fraudulent Schemes and Trafficking of Stolen Property have been forwarded to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office for review.