MELBOURNE, Fla. – A woman is accused of cashing fraudulent checks from a Brevard County VFW after stealing them from the quartermaster’s home while working as a home health aide, according to Melbourne Police.
Trinity Butterfield, 19, was arrested Thursday on theft charges.
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Investigators said she was working as a home health aide through BrightStar Care when she was hired to care for a Melbourne man’s wife. That man is the quartermaster of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #8191, according to an affidavit.
Butterfield worked at the man’s home on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15, 2020. About a month later, according to police, the victim was notified by Bank of America that several checks had been deposited which may have been fraudulent. The man told investigators he discovered at that time there were nine checks missing from the VFW checkbook, which he keeps inside his home.
Records show five of the VFW checks were deposited at Bank of America ATMs, totaling $25,000 and each check was written with pay to the order of Trinity Butterfield.
Melbourne police said Bank of America provided copies of the checks and investigators were able to confirm that the amounts on the checks corresponded with deposits into Butterfield’s account. Officers said they also showed the checks to the victim who confirmed that the signature on the checks was not his.
Butterfield faces charges of uttering forged instruments, criminal use of personal identification information, grand theft of 3rd degree and petit theft.