Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski: ‘Catch Me If You Can’ Tweet Results In Arrest
Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski’s brazen “catch me if you can” tweet ultimately helped police locate the fugitive while she was hiding out in Mexico.
Authorities were able to locate the 60-year-old Southern California woman after she posted the comment on her Twitter feed. Podgurski reportedly went on the run after being convicted of insurance and disability fraud earlier this year.
According to FOX 5 San Diego, Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski fled to Mexico soon after her conviction. Instead of laying low and keeping quiet, she decided to taunt a district attorney on the micro-blogging website.
The Computer and Technology Crime High-Tech Response Team was able to locate Podgurski through her Twitter account. She was arrested in Mexico on July 4 and shipped back to the United States for arraignment. She is currently being held without bail.
CBS Local reports that Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski was convicted of fraud back in January. After faking several injuries, the 60-year-old woman collected $650,000 from insurance companies and a government agency.
Despite claiming to be disabled, she used the money to travel around the world. Her adventures included trips to Dominican Republic, New York, Seattle, Boston, and Fort Lauderdale. For her crimes, Podgurski was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in fines and damages. Since she later fled the country, the woman was sentenced in absentia.
While hiding out in Mexico, Podgurski set up a Twitter account in order to taunt District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. Her “catch me if you can” tweet would ultimately prove to be her downfall.
“The defendant in this case was brazen in both the large-scale fraud she committed and the way she mocked the criminal justice system. Law enforcement, and in particular the U.S. Marshals and Fugitive Task Force, did a great job tracking the defendant down and taking her into custody,” Dumanis said.
Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski pleaded not guilty to failing to appear in court while on bail.
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