A former personality on the Oxygen reality series “Bad Girls Club” is facing up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to one felony count of wire fraud.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, Shannade Clermont pleaded guilty to the charge for making and attempting more than $20,000 in fraudulent charges using the stolen debit card information of “a deceased man she had visited for a prostitution date.”
“Former reality TV ‘Bad Girl’ Shannade Clermont stole debit card information from a man she visited for a prostitution date in his Manhattan apartment. When he died of an overdose, Clermont used the deceased man’s identity to make tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases,” Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Thursday. “She has now pled guilty to fraud and faces time in federal prison. This case demonstrates that in reality, those who commit debit card fraud will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to the complaint against Clermont, the NYPD and the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York have been investigating the overdose death of a male individual, who was found dead on the morning of Feb. 1, 2017, in his Manhattan apartment.
The investigation revealed that Clermont visited the man for a prostitution date at the victim apartment the previous evening, and stole two debit cards from his wallet. The complaint stated that Clermont then used the stolen debit card information to make or attempt to make more than $20,000 in fraudulent purchases during the months following the man’s death.
Those fraudulent purchases and attempted purchases included paying her rent and phone bills, purchasing flights, and making several online purchases of thousands of dollars of clothing and other merchandise, according to the complaint.
Clermont’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2019.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.