Husband and wife charged with identity theft

Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA)

March 11--A husband and wife from Moosic face identity theft charges on allegations they stole thousands from retirement plans, Lackawanna County detectives said.

Ann Marie Comcowich, 47, 508 Minooka Ave., worked as a "relationship management specialist" for Prudential Insurance Co. in Moosic. She used Social Security numbers and account numbers to funnel $84,161.53 from tax-deferred retirement plans into a bank account she shared with her husband, 52-year-old Kenneth Comcowich, Detective Renee Castellani charged in a complaint.

Ann Marie and Kenneth Comcowich are each charged with identity theft, theft by unlawful taking and other related crimes.

The thefts came to light Nov. 17, two days after the insurance company fired Ann Marie Comcowich for performance-related issues, Detective Castellani wrote. A change made to a participant's date of birth on a daily report prompted further investigation, and the company learned that Ann Marie Comcowich had updated that participant's name and address to "KP Copcowick" at 944 N. Irving Ave., Scranton, an address owned by her parents, detectives said. The same name and address had been listed on three inactive retirement accounts.

She attached a fake name and her parents' address to a legitimate Social Security number and stole thousands from five separate retirement accounts for health care and public school systems across the country. The $84,161.53 found stolen came from 13 withdrawals, ranging in size from $595.02 to $16,173.30, from Jan. 30, 2015, through Nov. 3. They were processed through nine different participant accounts.

Ann Marie Comcowich turned herself in Thursday and was released on $20,000 unsecured bail, police said. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Arraignment information was not available for Kenneth Comcowich.