On April 29, 2026, at approximately 7:05 A.M., Edina Police received a report regarding an identity theft from the Valley City Police in North Dakota. The investigator contacted Valley City Police and learned that two residents reported an identity theft involving a suspect that went into US Bank in Edina, located at 4100 50th Street West, and withdrew money. On April 24, 2026, the suspect withdrew two transactions, one for $4,600 and a second for $1,000. It was later discovered that the second withdrawal occurred at US BANK in St. Louis Park, located at [ADDRESS REDACTED] in Hennepin County.
Police spoke with the victims D. H. K. And J. L. K. Who reported they are joint account holders. On April 23, 2026, J. L. K. Received an unwarranted verification code from US Bank for their account. On April 24, 2026, on the victims US Bank HELOC, there was a transfer of $6,700 to their checking account, which they did not initiate. On April 24, 2026, the two in person transactions occurred, for a total loss of $5,600. On April 30, 2026, police obtained search warrants for both US Bank branches surveillance videos.
On May 6, 2026, the detective received several videos showing the transaction in St. Louis Park. The female suspect is on video withdrawing the $1,000. Through investigation, police are able to take a screenshot of the female suspect's face and run it through open source online. The female suspect was identified as JOY KRISTA SAMUEL [DOB REDACTED], Defendant herein. Defendant's ID is out of Florida. Police contacted US Bank to determine if they had documentation of the female's ID information when she received the funds, and the bank indicated the presented driver's license was in the victim's name J. L. K. Police spoke with the victims and learned that J. L. K. Had recently renewed her driver's license but had possession of the physical card.
Police compared the surveillance images to booking photographs of Defendant and confirmed they matched. Later on, May 7, 2026, police received surveillance footage from the Edina branch of US Bank and observed Defendant to be the suspect that withdraws $4,600. She is wearing the same clothing in both incidents. On May 7, 2026, police spoke with Defendant on the phone and was told that Defendant had been trafficked and made to conduct the transactions by unknown men. Defendant's story described how they obtained victim's bank account information, flew Defendant to Minnesota and put her at an Airbnb, so that she would go to the banks and make withdrawals.
Defendant claimed she got paid $100 for this and the men took the rest of the money. Defendant also claimed that when the men asked her to return to Minnesota, she told them she would not assist this time, and the men respected her decision. At present, Defendant is not in custody. The State requests the complaint issue as a warrant as Defendant's current whereabouts are unknown.
