Deputies arrested a third person Monday they say is linked to an identity fraud case that followed burglary investigations in January.
    Bernadine Bragg, 54, of Halcyondale Road in Sylvania, was arrested by agents from the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at a Swainsboro motel, Bulloch County Sheriff Lynn Anderson said.
    Deputy Rey Rodriguez stopped Bragg in May on U.S. 301 South and found “what appeared to be fictitious Georgia driver’s licenses and checks,” the sheriff said.
    The discovery led to an investigation by the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office, Statesboro Police Department and U.S. Secret Service, and Bragg was linked to an identity theft and fraud case in which her daughter, Brandy Marie Barbee, 34, of Waverly Lane, was arrested on numerous counts of financial identity fraud, one count of negotiating fraudulent checks, one count of felony theft by receiving stolen property and a Superior Court probation violation.
    Barbee’s arrests followed an investigation of several burglaries in which checks and other items were stolen. Barbee reportedly had “a complete setup for the manufacturing of fictitious checks” at her home, and investigators catalogued 553 checks with 40 different names and 113 different routing numbers,” Anderson said.
    Barbee was located in a motel in Nashville, Tenn., when she was arrested in February. Evidence showed she used stolen checks and fictitious checks made using stolen identities to make purchases in several places, including Walmart in Pooler, Anderson said. At the time of her arrest, her boyfriend, Tito Jermaine Scott, 34, of Waverly Lane, also was arrested for financial identity fraud, negotiating fraudulent checks, and felony theft by receiving stolen property.

    Bragg was apparently involved in the crimes, having possession of fictitious drivers’ licenses and checks, the sheriff said. Bragg is charged with financial identity fraud, negotiating fictitious checks, possession of false ID documents, and forgery. Several additional federal charges are pending as well, Anderson said.
   
    Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.