What to Know
- An ex-reality TV show star is facing charges of fraud, identity theft after allegedly stealing from a man she visited for prostitution date
- Shannade Clermont, former cast member of “Bad Girls Club,” was arrested after allegedly stealing and using a debit card
- Clermont allegedly stole the card from a man who OD'd; She allegedly met him for a prostitution date the evening before he was found dead
A former reality television show star is facing charges of fraud and identity theft after allegedly stealing and using a debit card from a man she allegedly visited for a prostitution date, authorities say.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced Wednesday that Shannade Clermont, a former cast member of “Bad Girls Club,” was arrested on charges of wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The NYPD and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York have been investigating the overdose of a man found dead on the morning of Feb. 1, 2017, in his apartment at 250 East 53rd St. in Manhattan, authorities say, adding that it was during the investigation that law enforcement learned Clermont, 24, allegedly visited him for a prostitution date at the apartment the previous evening.
Authorities claim that Clermont used his debit card information to make or attempt to make more than $20,000 in fraudulent purchases during the months following the man’s death.
According to Berman, Clermont allegedly stole the information for two debit cards found in his wallet in his apartment and used that stolen debit card information for rent payments, phone bills, flight purchases and several online purchases of thousands of dollars of clothing and other merchandise.
Additionally, authorities say that Clermont created and used a fake email account in the man’s name to falsely represent to third parties in order to commit wire fraud using the man’s identity.
Local
Specifically, on or about April 3, 2017, approximately two months after the man’s death, the fake email account was used to register an account with Western Union in his name and to initiate a fraudulent money transfer of $1,000 from the man to Clermont.
Clermont is facing one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. She is also facing one count of access device fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive minimum sentence of two years.
Attorney information for Clermont was not immediately clear.
Clermont appeared on the reality show “Bad Girls Club,” on the Oxygen channel, with her twin, Shannon. According to the show’s website, the twins were raised in New York City and “have grown accustomed to a lavish lifestyle.”