ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 47-year-old Anchorage woman has been arrested and federally indicted for allegedly orchestrating a wide-ranging fraud scheme involving stolen identities, forged checks, and fraudulent applications for COVID-19 rent relief funds.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, Dusty Starr is accused of carrying out the scheme between February 2021 and February 2022. Prosecutors allege she used victims’ personal information to illegally obtain money from financial institutions and Alaska-based organizations.
Authorities say Starr exploited pandemic-era rent assistance programs by submitting fraudulent applications using stolen identities. In several cases, she allegedly posed victims as landlords seeking relief funds for tenants who were falsely claimed to be unable to pay rent.
In one July 2021 incident, investigators said Starr created a fraudulent email account and used a victim’s identifying information to apply for aid through a limited liability company registered under the victim’s name. Between July and November 2021, prosecutors allege three payments totaling $17,000 were deposited into a bank account Starr controlled but had opened using the victim’s identity.
Federal officials estimate total losses connected to the fraudulent rent relief applications exceeded $47,500.
In addition to the rent relief fraud, Starr is also accused of forging checks belonging to Alaska organizations and depositing them into accounts under her control. Prosecutors say that in September 2021, Starr deposited a forged $918 check drawn from the account of a religious organization, which later reported the transaction.
Further investigation by the Alaska State Troopers and a financial institution uncovered multiple fraudulent checks and an unauthorized electronic transfer tied to the same organization, resulting in losses exceeding $6,250.
Starr faces three counts of wire fraud, three counts of bank fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of possession of stolen mail.
She is scheduled to make her initial appearance before a federal judge on Jan. 20, 2026. If convicted, Starr faces mandatory minimum prison sentences of two years for each aggravated identity theft charge, along with potential sentences of up to 30 years on the remaining counts.
