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Woman admits guilt in bank fraud
On Monday, Suzanne Czwalga Andre pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud for obtaining the cashier's check by writing a bad check on another account that had $470 in it.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Conway said Andre wrote a $500,000 check from an account she jointly controlled with her mother and used it to open an account at North Side Bank.
Andre then persuaded officials at that bank to cut a cashier's check for $398,565.75, which she used to buy the house.
Andre was supposed to appear before a federal grand jury Sept. 14, 2004, to provide a handwriting sample for an investigation into separate check-kiting allegations. Instead, she was arrested in her new home the day before, after North Side Bank officials contacted U.S. Postal Inspectors about the fraudulent cashier's check.
Defense attorney William Schmalzried wouldn't comment on the charges but said he expects to present evidence that Andre suffers from a mental illness before she is sentenced Jan. 26. Andre, 40, of Butler, was returned to the Allegheny County Jail until her sentencing before Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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