A local woman was arrested Friday on multiple felony warrants stemming from allegations she stole and forged checks from a Benton woman whose house she was hired to clean last year.
Jennifer Marie Coster, 50, of 106 Grayleaf Court, was taken into custody at her residence shortly after 10:30 a.m. and charged with six counts of second-degree forgery, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Coster, who lists no prior criminal history, was later released on $20,000 bond and is set to appear Aug. 9 in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on March 12, a Benton woman filed a report with Garland County sheriff's investigators regarding six forged checks from her bank account that had been deposited to a bank in Hot Springs. The checks had reportedly been stolen from her home by a known suspect, identified as Coster.
The woman stated she received notification that six of her checks had been deposited in the Hot Springs bank between Oct. 7 and 19, 2020, all made out to Coster. The woman said the signature on the checks was not hers and noted Coster had previously been employed by her as a house cleaner and she suspects she took the checks from her home during that time.
Investigators spoke to the branch manager of the bank where the checks were deposited who stated she personally knew Coster as "a repeat customer" and had personally seen her depositing the checks in person. She noted Coster would come to the bank at different times and approach different tellers to deposit the checks.
The total amount of money stolen from the woman's account was reportedly $925 from the six checks. After further investigation, a warrant was issued for Coster's arrest on June 23.