Fugitive Tweets ‘Catch Me If You Can’ at Authorities, Gets Caught
A California woman on the run from the law since being convicted of several crimes including insurance fraud, tax evasion, and grand theft, was captured in Mexico last week thanks to a tweet she allegedly posted taunting authorities to "catch me if you can."
Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski had bailed out before her trial, but never returned to her Manhattan Beach home.
The U.S. Marshal and the Computer and Technology Crime High-Tech Response Team reportedly relied on the tweet, posted on June 5th by someone claiming to be 60-year-old Podgurski, to bring the woman to justice after several months on the lam.
Podgurski, a former Amtrak clerk who faked a disability to collect over $650,000 in payments from seven insurance companies and a government agency, was convicted in absentia back in January, and sentenced last month to serve 20 years in prison — an amount of time that is likely to increase given her disappearing act.
Meanwhile, Podjurski's alleged Twitter account mysteriously sprang to life shortly after her arrest, and has since been tweeting words of congratulations to the DA's Office and the US Marshall for a job well done.
[photo via DA handout]