OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — Police have filed felony charges against an Oil City woman accused of stealing a recent widow’s identity and transferring nearly $10,000.00 from the woman’s bank account to her own.

April Marie Lee, 42, of Oil City, was arraigned Monday on the following charges at Magisterial District Judge Andrew F. Fish’s office:

• Other Reason Access Device Is Unauthorized By Issuer, Felony 3 (11 counts)
• Theft by Deception-False Impression, Felony 3
• Identity Theft, Felony 3
• Other Reason Access Device Is Unauthorized By Issuer, Misdemeanor 1 (3 counts)

According to a criminal complaint filed at Judge Fish’s office, the investigation was initiated on June 14, 2022, after the Oil City Police Department received a report from an Oil City woman alleging that April Lee illegally obtained control of her bank account and was using it to transfer funds to her own account.

During the investigation, police learned the victim’s husband had recently passed away and Lee allegedly made contact with the victim around that time. According to the victim, Lee deceived her into signing Power of Attorney paperwork. After obtaining Power of Attorney, Lee gained control over the victim’s bank account at Citizen’s Bank.

Lee also allegedly attempted to obtain a credit card in the victim’s name. The victim stated that she has never had a credit card and did not give anyone permission to obtain one in her name.

Based on these allegations, investigators were able to obtain a search warrant for Lee’s bank account which was also held at Citizen’s Bank.

According to the criminal complaint, bank records revealed that multiple monetary transfers were made from the victim’s account to Lee’s account starting on April 28, 2022, and continuing through June 8, 2022.

The transactions ranged from $300 to $1500 and totaled $9,900.

During an interview with police on July 21, 2022, Lee said the money transferred to her bank account from the victim’s bank account was for “money owed to her by the victim for items purchased,” according to the criminal complaint.

The criminal complaint states that Lee provided multiple receipts to the police; however, police said most of the receipts did not prove who the items were purchased for. Other receipts were from dates that were “outside of the rand and scope of the investigation.”

Lee is free on $15,000.00 unsecured bail.

A preliminary hearing is slated for August 24 at 8:30 a.m. in Venango County Central Court.