Woman charged after allegedly spending nearly $7,000 with stolen bank card
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POCATELLO — A Fort Hall woman faces multiple felony charges after she allegedly went on a spending spree with a stolen bank card.
Zandra Ann Brunette, 38, has been charged with five counts of fraudulent use of a stolen bank card, court records show.
The owner of a 2014 BMW 535i stolen reported their car stolen in Idaho Falls in April, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The victim told officers while reporting the theft that their wallet had been in the vehicle when it was taken.
After discovering fraudulent purchases made with their credit card in Pocatello and Chubbuck, the victim filed an online report with Pocatello police.
The victim reported $6,777.74 worth of fraudulent transactions made at 13 different area businesses.
April 25
After receiving information regarding the fraudulent purchases from the victim, officers spoke with the businesses where the transactions were made. Upon their request, officers were provided surveillance footage from many of the businesses.
In speaking with employees of the businesses, officers learned that between one and four people were present at the time of the purchase. The learned little about the purchasers, whom employees said were wearing COVID masks at the time of the transactions.
One of the people officers saw in some of the footage was identified as a tan-skinned woman. She was seen in several videos making purchases with the stolen credit card, wearing a COVID mask and hood pulled around her face.
Officers also received a complete list of transactions from the victim’s bank.
Pocatello police was contacted by officers from Idaho Falls, where the car was stolen, who provided the identities of the two people suspected of stealing the vehicle.
While they could not clearly see the faces of the people in the surveillance footage collected, officers were able to eliminate the two people suspected of stealing the car as suspects in the fraudulent transactions.
May 3
Officers were provided surveillance from one of the businesses where a purchase was made, after the business received the footage from corporate offices.
In one of the videos, officers saw a moment in which the woman pulled the mask down below her chin while outside.
Officers took a screenshot of the woman’s profile and created an attempt to identify bulletin. Before the bulletin was even broadcast however, a Pocatello officer identified the profile to be that of Brunette, who was known to the officer due to previous arrests.
Detectives positively identified Brunette using a profile from a previous booking mugshot.
Brunette was arrested at Bannock County Jail, where she was already being held for an unrelated arrest.
She is now being held on a $30,000 bond.
Police reports do not note if others involved in the fraudulent purchases have been identified.
Although Brunette has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean she committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
If she is found guilty, Brunette could face up to five years in prison and $50,000 in fines per charge.
She is scheduled to appear in court before Magistrate Judge Todd Garbett for a preliminary hearing on June 16.