A Sweet Valley woman is facing felony theft charges and related offenses after she allegedly forged a check from a business belonging to her friend’s mother then cashed the check at United Check Cashing in Hatfield Township.
Francine Agostinelli, 45, has been charged with felony counts of theft by deception and receiving stolen property, along with misdemeanor counts of forgery, bad checks and possessing an instrument of crime, in connection with an investigation by the Hatfield Township Police Department.
According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched to the 1200 block of Bethlehem Pike on July 13 for a report of fraud. An employee with United Check Cashing told police that a white female — later identified as Agostinelli — entered the establishment on June 21, provided her driver’s license and a check from SVS Associates in the amount of $4,625.20, the report states.
Investigators said that the business was no longer in operation, and one of the former owners stated Agostinelli was a friend of her son’s and had access to her old files during a recent visit.
Court records show that charges were filed against Agostinelli on Oct. 20 and she was subsequently taken into custody and arraigned on Dec. 8, at which point bail was set at $10,000 cash and she was transported to county jail after failing to post.
Agostinelli’s next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. in front of District Judge Andrea Duffy.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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