Toni Laverne Smith, U.S. Treasury Bond Theft, Ohio 2024

CLEVELAND, OHIO – In a shocking case of financial deceit, Toni Laverne Smith, 71, has been sentenced to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to transport and sell stolen U.S. Treasury bonds across state lines.

According to court documents, Smith had in her possession U.S. Treasury bonds that were believed to have been stolen from the residence of an elderly female in 2011. The bonds, worth over $268,500 in face value, were forged and sold to unsuspecting buyers, netting approximately $299,364 in proceeds.

The investigation, led by the United States Secret Service, discovered that Smith and a co-conspirator transported the stolen bonds across state lines from September 2011 to April 2012. They used fake identification cards with the name of the victim to negotiate the sale of more than 350 forged Series E and EE U.S. Treasury bonds.

Smith’s scheme also involved using the social security number of the victim to open bank accounts at several financial institutions as far away as Michigan and Illinois. The woman had evaded capture for over a decade before being apprehended on unrelated charges on June 3, 2024.

Toni Laverne Smith, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced on [no date provided] after pleading guilty to conspiring to transport and sell stolen U.S. Treasury bonds across state lines, forging treasury bonds, and using a false social security number.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Healy for the Northern District of Ohio. If you suspect that your U.S. Treasury bonds have been stolen, you can report them to the Treasury Department at https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/manage-bonds/lost-stolen-destroyed-ee-or-i-bonds/ or call 844-284-2676.

In this case, the defendant’s crimes have been met with severe consequences, serving as a warning to those who would engage in similar financial crimes.

The United States Secret Service and the Northern District of Ohio have worked tirelessly to bring Smith to justice, and their efforts have paid off with a 32-month prison sentence.