CLEARFIELD – A Curwensville woman accused of stealing over $17,000 from a woman she was taking care of had a hearing on Thursday at the Clearfield County Courthouse.
Nancy Coudriet faces charges of forgery- alter writing (22 Cts.); forgery-unauthorized act in writing (22 Cts.); forgery-utters forged writing (22 Cts.); access device issued to another who did not authorize use (50 Cts.); criminal attempt/access device issued to another who did not authorize use (2 Cts.); identity theft (8 Cts.); theft by unlawful taking (36 Cts.); receiving stolen property (86 Cts.) and theft by deception (36 counts).
Officer Julie Wehler of the Lawrence Township Police Department testified that the investigation began in August 2010. She said that Russell Boykiw brought to her attention some discrepancies in his mother’s accounts. Wehler testified that Coudriet was employed by Norma Boykiw as a sort of caregiver. Russell Boykiw later testified that Coudriet took care of his mother in the mornings, as well as looked after her account and check book.
According to Wehler, Norma Boykiw suffered a stroke a day prior to the start of the investigation, and she died while the investigation was occurring.
Wehler presented 38 checks that she believed to be altered or fraudulently written. She stated that Coudriet admitted to writing herself a number of checks as well as altering the amount on one check. However, under cross-examination she could not say whether Norma Boykiw signed off on the checks before or after they were written, or whether Boykiw authorized the payments.
Wehler presented the checks mostly in pairs; one check believed to be fraudulent with a check that was (generally) written two-to-three days prior. Some checks deemed suspicious had notes on the check stubs as to who or what organization they were to be made out to, but then the corresponding checks were made out to Coudriet.
Wehler also testified that two credit cards were used by Coudriet; a Citi Mastercard and Discover card. According to Wehler Coudriet used the Discover card to make cash advances. She said a phone call was also made from Coudriet’s residence to Discover, with the caller claiming to be Norma Boykiw, to obtain a PIN for the card, but that request was denied. According to memos from Discover, they did not believe the caller sounded like a 92-year-old woman. Another call was made to attempt to obtain the PIN, and this one was also denied. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Coudriet admitted to making the phone calls.
Evidence was provided regarding the Citi Matercard as well. According to Wehler, this card was used without by Coudriet to make purchases for herself as well as purchases for Norma Boykiw at CVS. According to the affidavit, Coudriet used the Citi card to make cash advances.
Wehler said that Coudriet told her some of the Citi and Discover purchases/advances were made without Norma Boykiw’s consent, while others were. Wehler also testified that Coudriet used Norma Boykiw’s checking account without Norma Boykiw’s authorization to pay off the credit cards.
Russell Boykiw later testified that after he learned of the alleged credit card abuse, he had both canceled.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, $17,356.89 was taken from Norma Boykiw. The affidavit also indicates that Coudriet initially went to the police station without counsel, but later sought advice from one, who advised her not to speak with police.
Defense Attorney Chris Pentz questioned how Wehler could determine which check in the pairings was written first, as well as whether Norma Boykiw signed them before or after they were written, or if she had signed them at all. Wehler indicated that the majority of the time, a standard check had a memo with hours and dates worked, while the suspicious checks did not. She also questioned why Norma Boykiw would pay someone on two checks covering the same time period.
Russell Boykiw also testified. A North Carolina resident, he testified that he came up in late May to help take care of his mother in the evenings. He said it was not his goal to upset the apple cart. He testified that he became suspicious that something was up when he noticed an error in her check book. He said he saw a balance on a credit card, which is something his mother never kept.
He said he confronted Coudriet about it. According to Russell Boykiw, Coudriet admitted to him that all charges on the card were hers and that his mother was unaware of of it.
He was also asked to identify checks that were suspicious or believed to have been forged. He spent some time looking at the two checks before indicating that it was not his mother’s handwriting on the checks. Later under-cross examination, Pentz went back to the checks.
“You don’t know if either one of these are forgeries,” asked Pentz.
“You got me,” admitted Russell Boykiw, who then praised Pentz’s prowess as an attorney.
Wehler was then called back to stand and asked if Coudriet made any statements regarding why she allegedly took Norma Boykiw’s money. Wehler said that Coudriet stated she was having financial trouble.
After hearing the closing arguments, Magisterial District Judge James Hawkins bound all charges to the next term of court.
