Sexy serial con artist arrested yet again after $250K shopping spree
- 8 years ago
LOS ANGELES — Maria Christina Johnson, 43, is quite the serial con artist. Over the years she’s posed as a member of a NASCAR motorsports team, managed to convince people she was the head of a modeling agency and most recently, somehow got people to buy her act as a professional dog trainer. — And when we say “people,” we mostly mean men; rich men.
Ms. Johnson has been a con-artist since at least 1997. She’s adopted the names Maria Hendricks, Gia Hendricks, Maria Christina Gia and Maria Hainka — to cite just the ones the FBI and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office know about.
Johnson is accused of using dating websites or home rental sites to “meet people.” She’d then dig up enough personal info to open new lines of credit. After that, it was shopping time.
When Johnson was busted on May 5th at a swanky beach hotel in Santa Barbara, she’d already blown US$250,000 of her latest victim's money.
Held on a US$2 million bond, Johnson is due back in court on May 11, 2016 to face at least two felony counts.
Cops say they know she served two years behind bars in Washington for identity theft in ‘97 and did some time in California in 2008 for that and credit card fraud.
Her arrest sheet is extremely lengthy, but with her many aliases, authorities say they have no clue exactly how many victims she’s scammed over her long career.
Ms. Johnson has been a con-artist since at least 1997. She’s adopted the names Maria Hendricks, Gia Hendricks, Maria Christina Gia and Maria Hainka — to cite just the ones the FBI and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office know about.
Johnson is accused of using dating websites or home rental sites to “meet people.” She’d then dig up enough personal info to open new lines of credit. After that, it was shopping time.
When Johnson was busted on May 5th at a swanky beach hotel in Santa Barbara, she’d already blown US$250,000 of her latest victim's money.
Held on a US$2 million bond, Johnson is due back in court on May 11, 2016 to face at least two felony counts.
Cops say they know she served two years behind bars in Washington for identity theft in ‘97 and did some time in California in 2008 for that and credit card fraud.
Her arrest sheet is extremely lengthy, but with her many aliases, authorities say they have no clue exactly how many victims she’s scammed over her long career.