ARRESTED: Neighbor Defrauds Elderly Boynton Beach Widow Out Of $87,600

Woman Was Hired For Menial Tasks, Defrauds Elderly Woman Out Of $87k.

BOYNTON BEACH, FL – Boca Post (BocaPost.com) — A Boynton Beach woman is in jail this morning after being arrested for defrauding an elderly Boynton Beach widow out of $87,600.

Leslee Minnich, 50, of SE 5th Circle in Boynton Beach, is in jail this morning facing several felony charges after Boynton Beach Police Department arrested her following a months-long investigation into the theft of a large amount of money from Minnich’s former employer. Leslee Minnich was hired by the victim to run errands, do grocery shopping, do some light cleaning, and do other menial tasks.

The 86 year old victim, who will remain anonymous per the invocation of Marcy’s Law, first reported the incident to BBPD in April of 2021 when she thought she was just missing her checkbook. The victim is an 87-year-old widow who lives in Boynton Beach alone as her children live out of state. According to arrest records, the victim and Minnich are neighbors who live in the Los Mangos neighborhood off Federal Highway in Boynton Beach.

An investigation was conducted by BBPD in collaboration with Bank of America which found the victim was defrauded to a tune of $87,600 dollars. A total of 36 checks were forged and allegedly cashed by Leslee Minnich. The victim was able to positively ID Minnich when provided video footage of the suspect cashing her forged checks at the banks. Additionally, the signatures on the forged checks do not match that of the victim. All 36 checks were made payable to Leslee Minnich which led to the loss of $87,600.

Leslee Minnich is currently in PBSO custody with a $100,000 bond. Minnich is facing the following charges:

• CRIMES AGAINST PERSON – EXPLOITATION OF ELDERLY 50K DOLS OR MORE
• FRAUD-IMPERSON – USE ID OF ANOTHER WO CONSENT 50K DOLS OR MORE
• FRAUD – MONEY LAUNDER TRANS 20K LESS THAN 100K DOLS

View the redacted police report below: