GUILTY PA - Bonnie Sweeten for staged abduction, swindle, Upper Southampton, 2009

[palocal]

I am also new here so forgive me if this has been mentioned...here is the article from our local paper (I live in Feasterville). I find the copied snippet particularly interesting:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/loc...article/28/2009/may/28/kidnapping-a-hoax.html

Police said Sweeten was trying to pay off a debt involving either the law firm or the charity before police got involved in a possible theft investigation. They said she got a check from her parents that she doctored to read $285,000 to pay back the law firm in an attempt to avoid prosecution, law enforcement officials said.

 

[palocal]

Sorry, I can't find the link but police have video of BS and JR getting out of the Denali where it was found and there was an unidentifed women with them.

Do you remember where you saw the video. I believe I remember Michelle Henry (Bucks County D.A.) saying in the press conference last night that there was no "other woman" in the video.

 

[MomofBoys]

I used to work at one of the Magic Kingdom resorts at Walt Disney World, and I'm very curious about how the arrest went down. Is there video? Disney tries hard to minimize a large police presence whenever possible. Arrests tend not to create a very magical guest experience.

I mean, you can't even really die there, after all.

 

[SuziQ]

I'm new to this forum and apologize in advance for any novice errors. But I'm suddenly VERY curious about lawyer/employer/friend of 15 years and have turned to the kind people here.
15 years is longer than any of this women's romantic relationships lasted, and yet she decides to steal from it? I think the lawyer involved Bonnie in something that overwhelmed her.
Any thoughts?

:Welcome-12-june:

 

[DairyGirl]

Do you remember where you saw the video. I believe I remember Michelle Henry (Bucks County D.A.) saying in the press conference last night that there was no "other woman" in the video.

No, I don't. It was right around the time that we found out they had been seen at the airport. It could have been an error in reporting.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I am also new here so forgive me if this has been mentioned...here is the article from our local paper (I live in Feasterville). I find the copied snippet particularly interesting:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/loc...article/28/2009/may/28/kidnapping-a-hoax.html

Police said Sweeten was trying to pay off a debt involving either the law firm or the charity before police got involved in a possible theft investigation. They said she got a check from her parents that she doctored to read $285,000 to pay back the law firm in an attempt to avoid prosecution, law enforcement officials said.

Well that $285,000 check could become her waterloo. It seems she not only took from the law firm but also involved her own parents by writing a check I am sure wasn't covered. It shows the admission of guilt. She would not be trying to pay it back if she didn't illegally take it.

I don't think her present husband has a clue about any of the financial dealings. He said she did all the bookkeeping on their own affairs. He needs to check and see what debts she has gotten them into without his knowledge.

imo

 

[Openmind]

I am also new here so forgive me if this has been mentioned...here is the article from our local paper (I live in Feasterville). I find the copied snippet particularly interesting:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/loc...article/28/2009/may/28/kidnapping-a-hoax.html

Police said Sweeten was trying to pay off a debt involving either the law firm or the charity before police got involved in a possible theft investigation. They said she got a check from her parents that she doctored to read $285,000 to pay back the law firm in an attempt to avoid prosecution, law enforcement officials said.

What a mess. It sounds like she has been building a house of cards for some time. The amout of her deception seems perfectly balanced by the blind faith of her family. Did she really think she could pass off a rubber check for $285, 000 and not get caught. Wouldn't her parents also be in trouble for the bad check? Does that mean her parents knew of her troubles?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Welcome to WS, Palocal~ Thanks for posting that article. Wow. Doctoring a check from her parents just shows what she will do to serve her own purposes. She is a selfish and wretched woman. She doesn't need psychiatric help. She deserves jail time!! She knows exactly what she is doing and doesn't care who she harms in the process.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Huh, she is in the same dorm as Casey A, Bonnie is in cell #19 and Casey is in cell #22, three cells apart...

LOL I thought about this last night. For a split second, I had to wonder if BS wasn't a WSer who was only trying to get an exclusive in the jail with Casey A. or try to hire JB for more information. LMAO

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I'm new to this forum and apologize in advance for any novice errors. But I'm suddenly VERY curious about lawyer/employer/friend of 15 years and have turned to the kind people here.
15 years is longer than any of this women's romantic relationships lasted, and yet she decides to steal from it? I think the lawyer involved Bonnie in something that overwhelmed her.
Any thoughts?

Welcome to WS, Apple and Green Tea! It is very odd and the money figure continues to rise. It would seem an attorney would keep up better with the financial end of things than lose that much money in the first place. The foundation appears to me to have a vague purpose, too. It is a strange combination of Autism Research and the children of Burma. Their website doesn't give much information on either one:

http://carlitzfoundation.org/index.html

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I used to work at one of the Magic Kingdom resorts at Walt Disney World, and I'm very curious about how the arrest went down. Is there video? Disney tries hard to minimize a large police presence whenever possible. Arrests tend not to create a very magical guest experience.

I mean, you can't even really die there, after all.

They both mother and daughter were arrested at the Grand Floridian Hotel late on Wednesday evening.

ETA: I quoted from an article and forgot to add the link!! (I did not write that tid bit myself!) I couldn't find the other article, but it says the same thing in this one:

Henry told reporters that Sweeten borrowed a co-worker's driver's license and presented it as her own when she bought an airline ticket and flew to Orlando, Fla., then checked into the Grand Floridian Hotel with her daughter, Julia Rakoczy. The two were arrested at the hotel Wednesday evening, Henry said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705306947/Missing-pair-found-at-Disney-World.html

 

[SharetheLight]

"seemed innocent"????...nothing about needing someone's ID for another person's 401k is innocent. Even if it was my best of best friend and she told me that story I would ask her what she was up to.

and evidently she didn't give the DL back because she used it at the airport. why wasn't this woman requesting her DL back the same day?
ETA: Ok, it seems as though, BS went to this woman's house to get her DL, and then used it at the airport the same day. Very calculated. Now it makes sense why this woman didn't ask for her license back. I thought BS asked her for the license while at work and then left with it.

 

[SharetheLight]

I am still thinking the current husband had knowledge of BS's dealings and i wouldn't be surprised to learn current husband knew of her plan to go to FL, and that the kidnapping story was false. His behavior was hinky when everyone was frantically trying to find this mother and child. He didn't go on camera until after it was learned BS was seen at the airport.
If BS really has embezzled one million dollars, I find it very difficult to believe current hubby had no knowledge. They weren't millionaires with properites and monies invested here and there making it a lot easier to hide money.
Call me crazy but I think current hubby is somehow involved in this hoax, or knew about her planned hoax, or in the very least had knowledge that she was embezzling money.
The papers keep saying BS most likely had financial issues, and that there is a domestic issue with current hubby. The financial issues I understand.
But the way they word the domestic concern makes me wonder what they think was going on.

Here is how it is worded:
"We believe that there were some domestic concerns with her husband and some financial concerns as well," Henry said.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news...Say_Mother_Reported_Carjacking_From_Car_Trunk

 

[SharetheLight]

This is interesting:
Carlitz, reached by phone Thursday morning, said she was not sure whether any money was missing from her coffers.
"I can't (tell you) right now," she said. "I need to gather the information myself."

Why are they speculating she embezzled from her employer, if her employer doesn't even know if any money is missing from the coffers??

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1684495

 

[SharetheLight]

Yah, how come the black dudes are always driving cadillacs

Just kidding of course!!!

These perps have to come up with better stories...like alien abduction!

At least she didn't say Zani the Nanny did it

 

[Melanie]

They both mother and daughter were arrested at the Grand Floridian Hotel late on Wednesday evening.

http://www.makli.com/carlitz-foundation/

Why was the minor arrested? I've yet to see evidence that she was involved in her so-called-mother kidnapping her? Poor thing - she should be sent back to Disneyland with the rest of her siblings to regroup and bond.

JMOO

Mel

 

[STEADFAST]

Why was the minor arrested? I've yet to see evidence that she was involved in her so-called-mother kidnapping her? Poor thing - she should be sent back to Disneyland with the rest of her siblings to regroup and bond.

JMOO

Mel

The daughter, Julia, wasn't arrested. It's painfully obvious that the article was written by a non-native English speaker whose grasp of English isn't very strong, so "arrested" was just a poor choice of words. Julia was taken into protective custody until her father could come get her.

 

[FifthEssence]

This is interesting:
Carlitz, reached by phone Thursday morning, said she was not sure whether any money was missing from her coffers.
"I can't (tell you) right now," she said. "I need to gather the information myself."

Why are they speculating she embezzled from her employer, if her employer doesn't even know if any money is missing from the coffers??

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1684495

This article quotes the attny Carlitz saying she DID steal from her
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/b...mom__Is_she_a_thief__too_.html?cmpid=16339736

Sweeten was listed as a director and fundraiser for the charity. In an interview last night with the Philadelphia Daily News, Carlitz labled her longtime - and now former - employee a thief.

"She worked with me for 15 years and stole money from my law practice," Carlitz told the newspaper. "She used a (bank) account from the foundation to launder money from the law practice."

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Why was the minor arrested? I've yet to see evidence that she was involved in her so-called-mother kidnapping her? Poor thing - she should be sent back to Disneyland with the rest of her siblings to regroup and bond.

JMOO

Mel

The author of the article wrote that and I don't know why the person phrased it like the way they did, but we know the child wasn't arrested.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

They both mother and daughter were arrested at the Grand Floridian Hotel late on Wednesday evening.

ETA: I quoted from an article and forgot to add the link!! (I did not write that tid bit myself!) I couldn't find the other article, but it says the same thing in this one:

Henry told reporters that Sweeten borrowed a co-worker's driver's license and presented it as her own when she bought an airline ticket and flew to Orlando, Fla., then checked into the Grand Floridian Hotel with her daughter, Julia Rakoczy. The two were arrested at the hotel Wednesday evening, Henry said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705306947/Missing-pair-found-at-Disney-World.html

I just wanted to clear this up. I did not say it!