Schuylkill County Woman Charged for Defrauding Over $80,000 from Hegins Township Couple

A Schuylkill County woman is facing charges after an investigation found that she had defrauded over $80,000 from a Valley View couple.

According to Hegins Township Police, felony charges were filed on Thursday, January 27th, 2022 against Amanda Krammes, 42, of Valley View for access device fraud, identity theft, criminal use, forgery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property from the investigation.

According to court documents, Sergeant Matt Dillman filed the charges from two investigations into a Valley View couple being scammed out of money. Krammes is girlfriend of the couple's son.

The first investigation began in 2019, when the couple said they were receiving calls at least twice a month from a "Patti" and a "Nancy" for about a year in regards to fines they owed.  The callers would inform the couple that money was being removed from their bank account to pay for the fines imposed by Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas Judge Baldwin.  The couple believed the fines were legitimate.

The second investigation began in July 2021 when Sergeant Dillman responded to a report by the female victim of fraudulent charges on her debit card.

Through the course of both investigations, police with assistance from a forensic expert from Temple University learned through pictures, videos, receipts, STAR reports, contracts, bills, and other financial information that Krammes had spent $81,998.91 that didn't benefit the victims.

The investigation found that:

• $16,171 had been transferred or deposited into Krammes' account
• $2,481 had been transferred into the couple's son/Krammes' girlfriend's account
• $7,365.92 in money order purchases at the post office for rent, deposits into Krammes' account, fine payments, payments to Krammes' sister, and deposit's into the son's account.
• $39,707 in ATM cash withdrawals, an additional $3,310 on top of that went to bank surcharges as a result of the transactions
• $4,156 in debit card transactions
• Other amounts included payments for bills and other items including food while on vacation in Ocean City, Maryland
• Krammes also allegedly attempted to obtain a loan under the female victim's name for $5,000 but was denied and only received $500.

The fraudulent transactions for the second investigation found:

• $702.40 used on Krammes 'rentals
• $232.04 used on Krammes' insurance payments
• $638.28 used on Krammes' television bill

As a result of the finding from the investigation, Krammes was charged and arraigned on Friday, January 28th, 2022 on the above charges by Magisterial District Judge David Rossi who set bail at $25,000 unsecured for each investigation.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 3rd, 2022 before MDJ Rossi.