Waterbury woman pleads guilty to stealing $360K in fraud schemes
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A Waterbury woman pleaded guilty on Friday to stealing approximately $360,000 through fraud schemes across companies in Connecticut and New York.
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Marlenin Vito, 46, allegedly stole nearly $310,820 in about 500 fraudulent checks while working as a Medicaid coordinator in Stamford, according to court documents. During her time at the company, she was responsible for helping nursing home residents apply for Medicaid reimbursements, handling patient trust accounts and payments made on behalf of residents.
'Many of the residents were not healthy enough or mentally capable of tracking their own expenses or monitoring the balances of their own trust accounts,' a press release from the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut said.
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For over a year, from about Dec. 2019 through May 2021, Vito allegedly forged signatures on the company's checks and lied about giving cash to the residents.
Vito created and provided to family members false account statements that misrepresented the balances in the residents' trust accounts, according to statements in court and additional court documents.
Vito kept COVID-19 stimulus payments and cancelled some residents' health insurance coverage to keep the money for herself, according to the press release. She was fired from the company.
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At her next job as a bookkeeper and scheduler at an alarm company in White Plains, New York, Vito allegedly stole about $23,558. Court documents state that she lied about overtime for herself and her daughter and ordered more than $10,000 worth of products with company funds. She was then fired from this company.
At her next position as a bookkeeper at a law firm in Hartford, Vito allegedly stole about $27,179 by forging checks on the company bank account and keeping funds for herself.
Vito pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which constitutes a maximum of 20 years in prison. She was released on a $25,000 bond and is pending sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 10. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is still investigating, along with police departments across Connecticut and New York.
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