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Being Beautiful Wasn't Her Only Crime...
Susan Shaw, former Miss Hawaii International
It's hard to juggle being a beauty queen and a wife and mom...but even harder if you add a whole other identity to the mix. Manhattan Beach's Susan Shaw was once Miss Hawaii International, and had a husband and children in Oahu who didn't know she also had a life here in SoCal. Shaw was arrested in Honolulu last month, after detectives here found her rented home full of "hundreds of stolen credit cards," along with "Social Security numbers, addresses and birthdays of victims and potential victim," according to abc7.Shaw kept a "lavish" lifestyle that she funded with stolen money and shared with a boyfriend who also lives in Manhattan Beach, much to the shock and dismay of her husband in Hawaii. The boyfriend allegedly did not know about the stolen identities and monies, and is cooperating with the investigation into Shaw's affairs, which so far include 122 counts against her, "including identity and credit card theft, forgery and money laundering" representing 11 victims. Pending further investigation up to 25 more victims may be added to the list.
For about a year, Shaw's behavior mystified her family, when they began to wonder how she paid for her expensive clothes, handbags, and travel. Shaw allegedly used the internet to arrange for people's financial information to be re-routed to addresses where she could easily intercept the mail, then apply for credit cards in those names. She was caught when a tip led authorities to put one of the mailboxes under surveillance last month.
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