A Chesterton resident has been charged with one count of fraud and one of theft after Valparaiso Police said that she obtained a credit card in the name of her employer and used it to make thousands in unauthorized charges, the Porter County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said.

Rebecca Trial, 43, of 431 S. 10th Street, was charged on Monday.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Det. Shannon Morris of the VPD, in May 2009 an officer met a Valparaiso senior and his nephew, who has power of attorney for his uncle. They advised that Bank of America had contacted them about activity on the senior’s charge account but that the senior had never opened such an account and that in a subsequent review of his uncle’s finances the nephew discovered thousands of dollars in discrepancies.

The nephew further advised that his uncle’s caregiver, Rebecca Trial, approached him while he was reviewing the numbers and told “him that she opened the credit account and asked him not to notify police,” Morris stated in her affidavit.

The Bank of America credit account was opened in November 2008 and used to obtain $22,857.70 in cash advances, with all activity on the account totaling $36,343.96, Morris stated. The senior and his nephew closed the account after learning of its existence.

In a later interview, Trial advised that the senior was “aware that she had opened the credit card account” and had given her “permission to use the card because of hardships she was going through,” Morris stated. The senior himself, however, denied ever giving Trial such permission and denied having any knowledge of the account until contacted by Bank of America, Morris stated.

Trial also advised that she had had a credit card in her own name on the Bank of America account but “claimed the card had been destroyed and thrown away,” Morris stated.

Meanwhile, the senior’s nephew advised that, after further research, he learned that payments were being made on the Bank of America account from the senior’s Center Bank account, that Trial knew the Bank of America account had been closed because “she already tried using the card and it was declined,” and that after firing Trial he had to “reclaim (his uncle’s) vehicle from her because she had been using it, although she had a suspended driver’s license,” Morris stated.

Trial, for her part, continued to maintain that the senior had knowledge of the Bank of America account but admitted making purchases on that account of which he had no knowledge. “She said she would try and tell (the senior) about the purchases later, after they were made,” Morris stated. “She said most of the cash advances were made for shopping purchases. However, she estimated she owed (the senior) about $10,000.

Then, on May 13, 2008, the day after Morris interviewed Trial, Morris learned that two checks had cleared the senior’s Center Bank account on May 12, both checks made out to Rebecca Trial, one for $1,374, the second for $1,324, Morris stated. Trial advised that she had deposited the two checks into her own TCF Bank account, “claiming each was in the amount of $1,000, and they were payroll checks for last week’s pay and this week’s pay.” A TCF branch manager advised Morris that records show Trial depositing both checks on May 10, that there was no cash or coin involved in the transaction, and that “Trial asked if she could withdraw all the money and close her account” that day but was told she could not.

Both charges filed against Trial are Class D felonies punishable by a term of six months to three years.

Posted 1/7/2010