A 40-year-old woman stole information from another woman’s business bank account in Darien to make a payment to her own delinquent credit card account, Darien police said.
Police gave this account of what happened, including accusations not proven in court:
Arrest photo from Darien P.D.
Arrest photo of Melissa Allen, charged with stealing money from someone else’s bank account.
The victim, who has the business bank account at Darien Rowayton Bank, told police on July 31 that information about her account had been used by someone making an unauthorized withdrawal from it. Police said didn’t say what specific information was used to withdraw the money or how that information was obtained.
The money was transferred to an account called “Avant LLC,” and police were able to identify Melissa Allen of Endicott, New York as the person who transferred the funds (police didn’t say how much money was taken).
Endicott had a credit card that had “gone into charge-off status,” the police announcement said. Charge-off status means the credit card company (Avant) had written off the loss and closed the credit card account, preventing future charges on it.
Police identified Allen as the thief and issued a warrant for her arrest, charging her with third-degree identity theft and third-degree larceny. The warrant noted that Allen’s bond was set by a judge at $5,000.
Allen turned herself in at Darien Police Headquarters on Oct. 15, paid the bond and was released. She was told to appear Nov. 10 in state Superior Court in Stamford.