RICHMOND —
A Berea woman is accused of fraudulently receiving more than $3,000 in benefits from an agency from which she volunteered.
Police say Deborah Carter, 55, of Berea worked helping applicants for heating and shelter assistance at the Foothills Community Action Partnership when she filed about 20 false applications on her own behalf between March 2006 and November 2009.
She applied to receive help with her Berea Utilities account and her rent, according to a warrant request to Madison District Court.
Carter assisted the agency by processing assistance applications and preparing payment vouchers, Berea Police stated in the warrant request. She made up names, and at least in one case used the name of a deceased person, according to the police statement.
Most of the vouchers were unsigned, but one contained the forged signature of a supervisor at the agency, the court document states.
The Berea Police Department obtained a warrant last October charging Carter with 20 counts of intent to defraud or scheme to obtain benefits, a Class D felony, first-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a Class C felony, and theft of identity of another without consent, a Class D felony.
She was arrested June 17, and released the following day on a $5,000 unsecured bond, according to the Madison County Detention Center’s website.
Carter is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
Kelly McKinney can be reached at kmckinney@
richmondregister.com or 624-6694.
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