Community Corner

Connecticut Residents Charged in Ongoing ATM, Check Fraud Scheme

Police said Wednesday that the man and woman team used fraudulent behavior and various unfunded checking accounts to defraud Farmington Savings Bank of $1,900.

A two-month bank fraud scheme helped a pair of Connecticut residents take more than $1,900 from , according to police, but surveillance footage and their continued pattern of fraud also helped lead to charges.

The two state residents, Daniel Molnar and Jennifer Kanser, remain in state custody in lieu of $10,000 court set bonds after each was arraigned in Bristol Superior Court earlier this week.

Both Molnar, of 31 Deerfield Trace in Burlington, and Kanser, of 116 Roosevelt Ave. in Torrington, are facing charges of fourth-degree larceny, automatic teller fraud, issuing a bad check and conspiracy charges to each account.

“The couple is allegedly involved in establishing an account with Farmington Savings Bank in an effort to defraud the bank of a considerable sum of money,” said Sgt. Lowell DePalma. “The scheme started in January and continue through much of February before police were contacted by the bank regarding possible fraud.”

A police report said the couple became suspects in an investigation after surveillance cameras caught a repeated pattern of behavior at banks in which Molnar would cash a bad check and then immediately take out as much money as possible.

Molnar, 23, established the Farmington Bank account in late November, depositing $300 and then proceeding to take out all but $10 according to police records.

In early January, police said Molnar began entering bad checks into his account and would eventually make eight bad deposits. He took out money each time he made the deposits and had done this about eigh times into late February, according to the police report.

DePalma said the investigation revealed that several of the bad checks were written by Kanser, 41, and as detectives began reviewing surveillance footage they determined that she had accompanied him to several ATMs when the fraud was committed.

Both are due back in court on Friday.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here