Woman arrested in Spring Hill tanning salon fraud case

SPRING HILL – Hernando deputies believe a woman arrested in Polk County over the weekend is connected to a case involving credit card fraud from a tanning salon.

Brandy Langley, 35, was arrested in Polk County on drug charges and is being held on Hernando County warrant charges of organized fraud, the Hernando sheriff’s office said. In September a tanning salon employee named Bianca Spera, believed to have stolen customer credit card information, was arrested on fraud charges.

Detectives believe Spera sold the stolen information to Langley.

Hernando Today previously reported the sheriff’s office received five economic crime reports in August that were traced back to House of Tans on Mariner Boulevard in Spring Hill.

Detectives learned one victim’s credit card was used to pay Spera’s SunPass bill. About $1,000 of fraudulent transactions were reported between July 31 and Aug. 7, as well as $13,000 worth of cancelled transactions.

Spera said she gave the victims’ credit card information to Brandy Langley in exchange for cash or bill payments.

Spera was arrested on Sept. 23 on a fraud charge, and released on $2,000 bond the following day.

Court records show Spera has been adjudicated guilty of possession of a controlled substance, driving with a suspended license and two counts of organized fraud in the past.

Prison records show Langley was incarcerated in 2003 on grand theft charges and charges of giving false information to a pawnbroker.