She’s accused of stealing from clients
The case against a Burlington group home owner accused of stealing thousands of dollars from mentally disabled clients has been scheduled for a jury trial in March.
The trial of Becky Ann Borucki, 57, is set to begin March 12 in Racine County Circuit Court.
She is accused of nine felony crimes, including three counts each of: theft of movable property with special facts; personal identity theft for financial gain; and theft of movable property.
The special facts associated with the charges has to do with the fact that the three victims are cognitively disabled adults and require assistance in the handling of their financial affairs.
The charges were filed May 3 in Racine County Circuit Court following a months-long investigation by the City of Burlington Police Department.
Borucki was the owner and operator of a group home at 425 Herman Street at the time the alleged crimes occurred.
The court has scheduled a status hearing in the case for Feb. 4, after which a final determination will likely be made as to whether the trial will proceed.
According to the criminal complaint in the case, the sister and legal guardian of one of the victims became aware of discrepancies in her brother’s banking account in the fall of 2011 after she was contacted by a representative of North Shore Bank.
The sister, working with Burlington police, discovered more than $8,500 in unauthorized transactions to her brother’s account between August 2011 and January 2012. That amount includes not only funds believed to be stolen, but also overdraft fees incurred on the account.
The complaint notes numerous transactions in which checks were written out directly to Borucki. The sister also told investigators she could tell the checks were not written by her brother. The sister said that she did not give anyone else permission to access her brother’s accounts.
The investigation included two other residents of the group home, whose guardians also discovered missing funds.
The sister and guardian of a second victim told police she believes approximately $4,400 was taken from her brother’s account containing inheritance money from their parents’ estate.
Some of the funds were allegedly used to book a Caribbean cruise that the victim never took.
The complaint further alleges that the second victim was deprived of $6,249 in wages earned from his job at Careers Industries, a sheltered workshop for disabled adults. According to the complaint, 42 payroll checks were issued to the man between January 2010 and October 2011 with most of the checks endorsed by Borucki or endorsed by the victim and marked “pay to the order of” Borucki.
The guardian of a third victim reported similar instances of alleged theft after being contacted by police. In that instance, it appeared $5,097 was missing from the victim’s account.
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