NY Woman Accused Of Stealing $19K From 2 Stamford Residents: PD

Stamford CT

14 September, 2021

1:51 PM

Description

STAMFORD, CT — A 57-year-old New York City woman faces several identity theft and forgery charges after police said she stole about $19,000 from two Stamford residents almost three years ago. In November 2018, a bank reported that a woman, later identified as Terry Markuske, of the Bronx, had come into several branches in Vermont and posed as three different people, two of whom were Stamford residents, according to financial crimes investigator Michael Stempien of the Stamford Police Department. Stempien said the woman cashed a check for $2,986 against the victims' accounts, and also withdrew money, totaling roughly $19,000. "The bank had good surveillance footage of her, and we sent out a bulletin to other police agencies," Stempien said. "We got a response back from a detective in Nassau County [in Long Island] who was familiar with Terry Markuske. We were able to develop that into an arrest warrant [in May 2019]." However, Stempien said Markuske could not be located. "It wasn't until a couple weeks ago when she was arrested in Newark, N.J. on local charges there. They notified us, and last Friday, we extradited her back here to Stamford," Stempien said. Markuske was charged with two counts of second-degree identity theft, second-degree larceny, third-degree larceny, six counts of second-degree forgery, and two counts of criminal impersonation. She was given a court-set bond of $100,000, Stempien said. While going through Markuske's personal property, officers found a license, credit card, and bank statements that used the identity of a woman in Florida, Stempien said. The woman in Florida told officers that she had noticed fraudulent activity on her accounts in recent weeks, Stempien noted. Markuske was charged with an additional two counts of second-degree forgery, and second-degree identity theft. Markuske appeared in court on Monday, and had her bond reduced to $15,000, Stempien said. As of Tuesday afternoon, she remained in custody at the York Correctional Institute in Niantic.