New Fraud Charges For Woman Who Faked Kidnapping: U.S. Attorney

UPPER SOUTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, PA —A former Bucks County resident who once faked her kidnapping in 2009 after stealing from her company faces new federal charges of fraud involving another Bucks County business.

U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced Monday that Bonnie Sweeten, 51, recently of Delanco, NJ, was charged by Information with two counts of wire fraud related to her scheme to steal from her former employer by forging checks and making fraudulent purchases with the company credit card.

According to the Information, in September 2017, Sweeten was hired as a bookkeeper for a Doylestown-based excavating company because the president of the company had known her for many years.

As the bookkeeper, Sweeten had access to company bank accounts, company checkbooks, the company mail, and other sensitive personal information belonging to the president and to the company.

She allegedly abused the trust of the president of the company by using her position to steal company funds: using her access to the company’s checking account to issue dozens of company checks to herself; using her access to the company mail to steal checks that had been mailed to the company, which she then fraudulently endorsed over to herself; and using her access to the company credit card to make tens of thousands of dollars of personal purchases, the US. Attorney said in a press release.

“As an employee of the company, Bonnie Sweeten was well aware of her obligation to act in the best interest of the company, but instead she allegedly chose to take advantage of the opportunity offered to her to work as a bookkeeper for this company,” said U.S. Attorney Romero.

The mother of three, formerly of Feasterville, gained national attention when she called 911 and claimed two black men had carjacked her SUV on Street Road and forced her and her 9-year-old daughter into the trunk of their waiting car.

The FBI discovered Sweeten had taken her daughter and flown to Disney World, where she was later arrested.

She had stolen $700,000 from her former employer, a Lower Southampton law firm, several of the firm's clients and an elderly relative, a Patch story had reported back in 2011.

If convicted of the current scheme, Sweeten faces a maximum possible sentence of 40 years in prison.

“Bonnie Sweeten’s alleged actions are the epitome of biting the hand that feeds you,” said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Defrauding one’s employer is both a bad career move and a federal crime, for which violators must be held accountable.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Mannion.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.