FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Brooklyn Waitress Indicted for Allegedly Stealing
Almost $500,000 from Elderly Diner Patron
Defendant Allegedly Became Trusted Confidant, Gained Access to Victim’s Accounts
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Flatlands woman has been indicted on grand larceny, identity theft and other charges for allegedly stealing, approximately $470,000 from a customer who frequented a diner where the defendant worked as a waitress.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant allegedly took advantage of an elderly and vulnerable widow. She spent many years gaining the victim’s trust only to betray it. We will now seek to hold her accountable for this serious offense.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Alicia P. Legall, 46, of Flatlands, Brooklyn. She was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice on an indictment in which she is charged with second-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and first-degree identity theft. She faces up to five to 15 years in prison if convicted on the top count. She was ordered held on bail of $2.5 million and to return to court on December 6, 2017.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the indictment, between June 2012 and December 2016, Legall stole approximately $470,000 from a now 84-year-old widow who the defendant befriended, beginning in 2002, while she was a waitress at the local diner that the woman patronized. Over the course of several years, she gained access to the woman’s personal information, including her date of birth, address, social security number, and bank and credit card information.
The defendant had permission to use the victim’s credit cards for small purchases at local drug stores and supermarkets, but it is alleged she abused that trust. Specifically she allegedly stole more than $200,000 by cashing 75 checks written to herself or cash on the woman’s HSBC bank account, each of the checks contained the victim’s forged signature.
Furthermore, according to the indictment, from March 2013 through April 2016, the defendant allegedly stole $277,789 by making unauthorized charges against the woman’s Citibank Sears Mastercard accounts, including $73,399 in cash advances and $204,390 in purchases from various retailers including Apple; JetBlue; Victoria’s Secret; New York Racing Authority’s buffets and bars; Harrah’s in Atlantic City; hotels, clubs and restaurants in Miami and other parts of Florida; and Belmont Racetrack.
In addition to the financial theft, it is alleged the defendant stole the victim’s identity by opening additional lines of credit and creating online profiles with horse wagering websites such as TwinSpires and Churchill downs, using the victim’s social security number, date of birth, home address and Mastercard, but using her own email and phone number.
The case was investigated by Detectives Rocco Russo and Jackson Todd of the New York City Police Department’s Financial Crimes Task Force, with the assistance of Deborah Wey, Supervising Financial Investigator of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Karen P. Turner, of the District Attorney’s Frauds Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Dana Roth, Deputy Chief of the Frauds Bureau, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.