A Memphian with a long rap sheet including identity theft charges is back in jail again, accused of similar crimes earlier this month.
For years, The Local I-Team has brought you stories about Pia Sims. She’s been accused charged and convicted for a range of identity crimes involving hundreds of victims and tens of thousands of dollars.
“Before I go to jail for kicking your mother******* *** out here I’m going to ask for you to get the **** from in front of my building,” said Pia Sims in March, when the Local I-Team confronted her about multiple accusations of identity theft.
Sims remains behind bars at the Shelby County jail on a $150,000 bond for this latest offense. While investigating her on one identify theft crime, authorities say they came across evidence of another related crime.
Earlier this month, authorities again charged Sims with identity theft crimes, accusing her of buying a pool table with a bogus credit card from a northeast Memphis store. The affidavit said authorities watched the stolen property get delivered to a southeast Shelby County home, and after getting a search warrant, detectives found other items believed to be stolen.
That included a $4,500 check made out to another of Sims’ identity theft accusers. She said Sims’ filed her taxes without her permission at her Orange Mound office, Five Star Taxes.
“You did this multiple times. Not once, not twice, multiple times,” said the woman. “People need to speak up if anyone else knows she has their information.”
That victim, who didn’t want to be identified for fear of retaliation, said Sims threatened her on the phone when she filed a police report.
“She called my phone like, ‘you didn’t start the drama and called the police, you said you weren’t going to get the police involved in this.’”
The victim went on to ask, “How does she keep getting out on these same fraud charges or identity theft or whatever it is?”
In police reports dating back to 2010, victims said Sims stole their personal information in a variety of scams. In 2013, detectives found $50,000 in Sims’ trunk with social security and debit card numbers of more than 600 people. In the past year, Yahaha Mbeyu and Anthony Elmore told Local 24 Sims ripped them off for thousands of dollars using the fake name ‘Heidi Jefferson’.
“We just needed justice and we needed our money back,” said Mbeyu.
“She is an equal opportunity thief,” said Elmore.
A district attorney’s spokesperson said Pia Sims’ 2013 identity theft case was eventually dismissed because of its complexity and the fact there are now other identity theft cases pending in court.
Sims is due in court September 13th. She’s expected to remain in the Shelby County jail until then.
