A North Wales woman who was arrested in April on more than a dozen felony forgery and theft charges has been arrested again, after she allegedly forged additional checks from her prior victims while out on bail.
Amanda Topham, 33, of the unit block of Kerwick Court, has been charged with felony counts of forgery and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, as well as misdemeanor counts of receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception, in connection with the second investigation.
Following the first incident (click here to read), the victims opened a new bank account and received a pair of “starter checks.” Then, on April 24, the victims received an electronic notification that a $300 check had been drawn against their new account, and upon returning home, they discovered that one of the starter checks was missing.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators learned that Topham had allegedly forged the info on the check, and then had her father unknowingly go to the bank to cash it. When questioned at her home on May 29, Topham allegedly told investigators that she sent her father to cash it because the financial institution had given her “an issue” during a prior visit, but added that she wanted to cooperate with the investigation in order to keep her father out of trouble.
During further questioning, Topham allegedly admitted to writing the check, and said she gave the money to people whom she owed. Though she allegedly admitted that the victims never gave her permission to have or cash the check, Topham denied knowing who owned the check and said someone else had given it to her, the report states.
Topham was arraigned on the new charges on June 7 by Magisterial District Judge Marc Alfarano, who set bail at $1,000 unsecured. Her next court appearance is a preliminary hearing in front of Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine on June 27 at 10:30 a.m.
Topham remains out on $40,000 unsecured bail from the first investigation, as well as $5,000 unsecured bail from a March arrest in Whitpain Township, where she is charged with misdemeanor counts of retail theft and receiving stolen property.
(Editor's note: All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. Should the defendant choose to issue a public statement, or is later found not guilty or has the charges dropped, we will update this article accordingly.)
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