Woman faces 22 new charges in scam case

Nearly two dozen new criminal charges, six of them felonies, have been filed against a former church secretary who was already the focus of a fraud investigation.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20151022/NEWS02/151029817

Published October 22, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Woman faces 22 new charges in scam case By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Nearly two dozen new criminal charges, six of them felonies, have been filed against a former church secretary who was already the focus of a fraud investigation. Holly Aldrich, 48, of Springfield, who has also been known as Holly Jagelski in recent years, pleaded innocent Tuesday in White River Junction criminal court to three felony counts of forgery and felony counts of false pretenses, identity theft and unlawful trespass into an occupied residence. She pleaded innocent to 16 misdemeanor counts of false pretenses as well. She was released on pre-trial conditions. All of the new charges were developed by the Springfield Police Department and involve allegations from before and after Aldrich was first brought into court last year. At that time, she was accused of conning parishioners of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Springfield out of small amounts of money, which she allegedly used to purchase drugs. Aldrich was arraigned last year on two felony counts of forgery and again this March when she pleaded innocent to three misdemeanor counts of false pretenses. In the new charges, Springfield Police said in April she convinced an acquaintance who was described as “a recovering addict who is very active in Alcoholics Anonymous” to let her stay at his residence so she could attend a 30-day treatment program in New Hampshire. Police said the man agreed to help Aldrich attend the AA program, but within hours of her arriving at his house he discovered unauthorized charges on his credit cards and two of his checks had been forged and cashed. The new charges identify 19 people as possible victims of Aldrich. “She has been engaging in this behavior since as early as the fall of 2013 and as recently as May 4, 2015,” Springfield Police Officer Jeremy Fitzgibbons said in his affidavit. “The general nature of her scam is that she seeks out people she knows or has some sort of social connection with, such as church members or family members, (and) tells the victims that she is in distress financially ... .” One of the more than a dozen statements collected by police was from Springfield resident John Lavoie, who wrote, “Holly Aldrich came to my home last summer, asking to borrow $70 to make car repairs. She told me her grandparents had a savings account in her name, but she couldn’t access it immediately. She said she would pay me back. I was slightly hesitant, but she and her family were friends, so I lent her the money.”