Check-Forging Caregiver to Plead Out?

A Hampton caregiver indicted earlier this year on six felony charges is expected to plead guilty next week to defrauding an elderly North Hampton woman for whom she was assisting, according to the Union Leader.

Valerie Trunfio, 37, forged five checks totaling $2,000 over the course of 16 days in May 2012, according to the Union Leader. The paper has reported that Trunfio is expected to enter her plea — details of which haven't been released, according to the Union Leader — in Rockingham County Superior Court on June 25. 

Trunfio was originally arrested on Aug. 31 after turning herself in at the Hampton police station. There are two sets of charges against her because both Hampton and North Hampton police have been working together on a "long" joint investigation of Trunfio, who allegedly stole checks from "a former employer" and cashed them in both North Hampton and Hampton, police have said.

She was previously arraigned in Hampton District Court on four counts of forgery in one criminal case against her, and one count each of forgery and receiving stolen property in another case.

The receiving stolen property charge stems from the fact that a $600 portable oxygen monitor reportedly taken from Exeter Hospital was found at Trunfio's client's home during the forgery investigation.