Police Search for Female Suspect in Members' Account Thefts at CUs in 3 States
Investigators believe Danielle Cappetti victimized member accounts tied to HELOCs in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York.
Credit union executives may want to take a good look at the photos of Danielle Cappetti, who Delaware State Police investigators are searching for, because she is suspected of allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from credit unions in three states.
“I know of four credit unions that were hit including the one here in Delaware,” Sgt. Amana Morris of DSP’s Financial Crimes Unit in Georgetown said. “I would not be surprised if there were more victim financial institutions out there.”
In addition to Delaware, Cappetti has allegedly victimized credit union member accounts in Pennsylvania and New York.
It appears the suspect allegedly stole from members with HELOC accounts.
“All of the victims had some amount of monetary funds available through the HELOC accounts, but I couldn’t provide any exact monetary figures in the victims accounts to begin with,” Sgt. Morris said. “The withdrawals were from the victims’ HELOC accounts as well as their other personal accounts, which are obviously tied together to varying points based upon internal practices of the financial institutions.”
In the Delaware cases, according to police, Cappetti entered the branches wearing a poorly placed black surgical facemask pulled down over her nose exposing her nose ring. She produced a driver’s license matching that of the victim account holder, but bearing her photograph. She presented this fraudulent ID in order to make the withdrawals, police said.
“In Delaware, she hit multiple branches on the same date,” Sgt. Morris said. “She traveled as the rear seat passenger in a white Toyota sedan operated by an unidentified male. They park in neighboring convenience store parking lots, Cappetti walks next door to the credit unions, and then the suspect vehicle drives up to meet her when she exits and begins walking back.”
Sgt. Morris estimated the suspect withdrew approximately $40,000 on average per victim account.
DSP became aware of these alleged crimes in early March.
DSP said it believes Cappetti’s last two attempts to withdraw cash occurred in Pennsylvania’s Marple Township and Upper Darby, near Philadelphia, but they haven’t received any new reports since earlier this month.
“She does appear to solely be targeting credit unions, but I have not determined why that is,” Sgt. Morris said.
Anyone with information regarding Cappetti’s whereabouts is asked to call Sgt. Morris at 302-752-3806 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-847-3333.