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Falls woman accused of forging dead mother's signature to cash in on benefits

Posted at 11:53 AM, Dec 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-19 11:55:38-05

A Niagara Falls woman is facing felony charges for allegedly forging the signature of her dead mother in order to collect the death benefits of her late stepfather.

Virginia Donahue, 57, of 81st Street, is charged with grand larceny and five counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument.

According to investigators, Donahue's mother began receiving her husband's Workers' Compensation benefits after he died in 1997 following a long-term illness as a result of working at Union Carbide Corporation.

Donahue's mother passed away in October 2014, but the biweekly Workers' Compensation checks kept coming. The Inspector General says Donahue forged her late mother's signature every other week between December 2014 and January 2015 and deposited the money into her own account.

Donahue is due back in Niagara Falls City Court on January 18th.