A Portville, N.Y., woman is in McKean County Jail on 84 felony counts related to the alleged theft of more than $28,000 from Allegheny Store Fixtures.
Lisa Marie Thomas, 43, of Prosser Road, is charged with 14 counts each of forgery – unauthorized act in writing, and forgery – utters forged writing, second-degree felonies; theft, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, and access device fraud, all third-degree felonies; and possessing an altered or forged access device, third-degree misdemeanor.
Between June 5 and July 17, 2024, Thomas created 14 fraudulent checks purporting to be from Allegheny Store Fixtures to obtain a total of $28,450.34, according to the criminal complaint. The checks contained the actual account number of the Bradford business, which misled numerous places to believe they were actual authentic checks, and cashed them for Thomas. Surveillance footage from a bank involved showed Thomas executing several of the fraudulent transactions, the complaint stated.
An arrest warrant had been issued last year, as Thomas had moved from her last known address in New York, and left the area when she learned of the investigation into her actions, police said.
During the investigation, officers learned that Thomas had fled to Michigan. Through collaborative efforts with Michigan Law Enforcement, Thomas was apprehended and extradited back to McKean County.
She was arraigned Feb. 1 before on-call District Judge David Engman and remanded to jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for today.
