In a little more than two weeks’ time a Croydon woman, through separate investigations, was first charged with welfare fraud, by failing to report income to state officials which in turn launched a theft and forgery investigation by Bristol authorities in she’s accused of stealing a little more than $73,000 from dozens through forged and unauthorized transactions over a number of years. .
Cynthia Taylor, 48, came to the attention of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office earlier this year when it was discovered, according to the probable cause, she failed to report her income from an employer while receiving SNAP benefits during the period of January 12, 2021 through October 31, 2023. State Inspectors said Taylor was informed of her rights and responsibilities to report all true and accurate household changes and income, when she electronically signed a COMPASS Application for Benefits on January 12, 2021. IMCW Rhonnette Davis processed the application, but did not interview Taylor, as interviews were waived due to COVID-19, but Taylor’s signature on the form signifies her understanding of the rights and responsibilities, Taylor reported that she was receiving $950.00 unemployment compensation bi-weekly at the time. Taylor did not report income from DiEgidio Realty Management Co., LLC on the COMPASS application or during either interaction with IMCW, while reporting income from another job she held at the time.
Fraud investigators through interview/evidence obtained from Taylor’s employer actual employer, confirmed she was employed by two of their companies during the overpayment period. Taylor was paid by Do Little Corporation and DIEgidio Realty Management Co., LLC $880.00 weekly, working for each employer on alternating weeks. She had gross wages of a little more than $136,000.00 during the period of January 12, 2021 through October 31, 2023 when she was collecting SNAP benefits, according to court records. It was also determined, authorities said, Taylor forged her employer’s signature and documents that were provided to Department of Public Welfare officials as proof of her employment and wages.
State Fraud investigators charged her with one felony count of food stamp fraud in she currently has a January court date scheduled, online court records show. Investigators did not say the total food stamp value fraudulently obtained by Taylor over more than the two years she received SNAP benefits.
As a result of the food stamp fraud investigation, Taylor, who was working for DiEgidio Construction, in Croydon, became a suspect in theft investigation. The victim and business owner said, Taylor was hired at his company in 2014 for the purpose of being his secretary and personal assistant. Her job responsibilities included having access to his M&T Bank account for the purpose of writing checks for his monthly bills, checking daily balances and reviewing this information directly with her boss regularly, police wrote in court papers.
Unauthorized purchases on the business owner’s account became known after another DiEgidio employee inherited Taylor’s responsibilities and noticed a substantial number of suspicious debits on the business owner’s M&T Bank account. There were approximately 449 transactions highlighted and marked as unauthorized for a total value of a little more than $73,000.00.
These fraudulent transactions have forty-six (46) unique transactions description names, most notably, Amazon, CashApp, Revvi, OpenSky, Capital One, Credit One, Bank of America, T-Mobile, Riverview Crossing Apartments, West Lake Financial Services, and many more, the probable cause alleges.
Shortly after Taylor left the construction company, it was discovered she was still logged into her Amazon account, with investigators discovering nearly 200 transactions spanning about three years with a total value of approximately $6,927, shipped to her home and billed to the victim’s Visa card linked to the same M&T Bank accounts which were accessible to Taylor. Investigators engaged in a paper chase, matching transaction descriptions, dates, and times to the victim’s M&T Bank accounts, said police.
In a voluntary interview with Taylor, she confirmed the email associated with her Amazon account placing the orders and receiving the merchandise ordered was hers.
Investigators also discovered numerous ” fraudulent” CashApp transactions from 2022 to 2024 for approximately $7800. 21 of 54 transactions were debits to “Cynthia Ta” or “Cindy Bake,” alleged the probable cause.
There were dozens of additional fraudulent financial transactions committed by Taylor, police said in the probable cause affidavit, including four credit cards totaling a little more than $19,000.00.
During an interview with police, Taylor confirmed that she was responsible for debits on the victim’s bank statement and they were her personal transactions.
There are approximately $6,200 in debits to T-Mobile. During an interview with Taylor, she agreed that bill was partially hers. Her boss never had an account with the cell phone provider.
Credit: Riverview Crossing
There are approximately $3,800 in debits to Riverview Crossing Apartment Complex in Bensalem. On Friday, November 8, 2024, an investigator went to Riverview Crossing Apartment Complex and obtained account information for Taylor’s ex-husband who resided there. The payment history on his account matched the debit payments on the victim’s bank account,
Taylor allegedly purchased a used car with her former boss’s money in 2023 from Automotive Network Auto Sales, Inc. Documentation of the sale included Taylor’s name, address, and lien holder information, which was with Westlake Financial. The victim never had a car loan with that financial institution, police wrote in court papers,
The total dollar amount of the fraudulent transactions highlighted in the previous six paragraphs is $51,796. This leaves approximately $21,349 spread across thirty-seven (37) other vendors, all of which the victim reviewed and confirmed were not his transactions, bringing the total to over $73,000 in thefts.
Taylor was charged with felony theft by deception and receiving stolen property late last month. She is currently scheduled for preliminary hearing on January 8.
Prior to the above arrests/charges Taylor had never been arrested before in Bucks County and there was no indication in both cases what the reason(s) and/or motivations were for the alleged thefts and frauds spelled out above.
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