Hearing continued for woman charged with forgery
WAYNESBURG – The preliminary hearing for a Waynesburg woman charged with multiple counts of forgery and theft following allegations that she stole more than $4,000 from clients while employed with Greene Arc Inc. has been continued.
Waynesburg Borough police arraigned Amanda S. Steele, 30, on 45 felony counts of forgery and three counts of theft before Magisterial District Judge Lou Dayich on Feb. 24. Following arraignment, she was released on $5,000 unsecured bond.
Steele’s preliminary hearing was initially scheduled to be held before Dayich on March 7 but it has been continued until April 4.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Dayich’s office, Steele was employed as an independent living caseworker for Greene Arc from January 2004 until Jan. 29. Greene Arc is a private, nonprofit agency that provides vocational, residential, day support and advocacy services to individuals with disabilities.
Steele was assigned to assist three clients in the independent living program with their checking accounts, bill paying and budgeting, and she was also a co-signatory for the clients, the complaint states.
Police said Steele’s supervisor reportedly checked the client’s accounts and found a number of irregularities, over-spending and violations of Greene Arc procedures in managing accounts.
The clients were identified in the complaint as Marcia Shimek, Paul Holmes and Margaret Cunningham.
An internal investigation conducted by Greene Arc administration led to a suspicion of forgery, and the agency notified police of these suspicions, the complaint states. Officers said they obtained copies of the suspected forged checks for each of the clients.
Police interviewed Steele on Feb. 22, who admitted to forging the clients’ name on personal checks on 45 separate occasions between November and January, cashing the checks at various bank branches and keeping the money, the complaint states.
The 45 checks were cashed for a total of $4,030.76, police said.