HANCOCK COUNTY — A New Palestine woman was arrested and charged with theft after she was accused of taking money from her stepson’s accounts for her own benefit.
Amanda S. Curry, 40, 4000 block of Catalina Drive South, was arrested earlier this week and charged with a Level 5 felony count of theft of $50,000 or more, and a Level 6 felony count of exploitation of an endangered adult.
According to an 18-page probable cause affidavit filed in support of the charges, Curry took a sum estimated at over $135,000.
Officials from the Greenfield Police Department brought Curry in for questioning in October 2019, the affidavit said. She told investigators that while her name was on several of her stepson’s accounts, it was to manage his money and to give him an allowance while he was incarcerated.
The money issue was brought to detectives by Curry’s ex-husband, her stepson’s father, the affidavit said. The stepson, who is now 19 and in prison, had been awarded in excess of $174,000 in damages from an accident when he was a small child. But nearly $145,500 of that money is now unaccounted for, the teenager’s father told officials, the affidavit said.
Curry stated she did have power of attorney over one of her stepson’s accounts, but only to help him keep track of things and pay bills after he blew through part of the money.
The stepson has also been identified as having a learning disability and other medical issues, the affidavit said.
Curry acknowledged she had transferred her stepson’s money into her account in order to give him an allowance. But, by 2017, she told officials, she wanted to be done with dealing with her stepson’s money and personal issues and transferred funds back into his account.
Curry told officials she and her stepson had an arrangement with the money for her to use some of it. She stated a motorcycle was paid off; her truck was bought; and her house down payment was borrowed from her stepson, the affidavit said.
Curry also told officials she had paid her stepson back the money she had borrowed.
After a lengthy investigation, officials determined Curry was added to her stepson’s accounts for preservation purposes. They concluded, however, that Curry did not have permission to use his money for personal use and that the young man believed his money was being held for safe keeping.
Officials learned in the course of 10 months, $135,486 was transferred from the stepson’s accounts to Curry’s accounts and only $9,479 was transferred back. Officials further determined Curry did not hold sufficient employment to refund her stepson the money that had been transferred into her accounts.
Officials believe Curry took advantage of her stepson’s learning disability to commit offenses, the affidavit said.
Curry made an initial appearance Tuesday, Aug. 11, in Hancock County Superior Court 1, where Judge Marie Castetter set a pretrial conference for September. Curry has since posted a $1,505 cash bond and has been released from the county jail.
