Shuttered Boulder dance studio owner accused of staging 2 break-ins, getting $567,000 in fraudulent insurance payouts, indictment shows

The owner of Boulder dance studio Frequency Dance was accused of staging two break-ins, creating a fake business and lying to her insurance company to get more than $567,000 in payouts, according to an unsealed Colorado state grand jury indictment.

Cindy Burdine, 50, was indicted by a grand jury on March 27, according to online Boulder County District Court records. The unsealed indictment accuses Burdine of staging a break-in at the dance studio in April 2023, then lying to her insurance company that the dance studio had to cancel classes and performances, thereby losing income. In July 2023, Burdine reportedly hired two men to stage a break-in at the dance studio, then named Kinesis Dance, and estimated the damages to be $100,000.

Burdine, a Thornton resident, reportedly then created a fake business called “Revolution Dance Sport,” created a website for it and enlisted someone to pose as a representative for the business to speak with her insurance company, according to the indictment. That fake business, alongside fraudulent bills from real dance studios, was used to show that Kinesis was losing income after the break-in, the indictment states.

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In all, Burdine reportedly got $498,201.54 in an insurance payout for the July 2023 incident and $69,696.26 for the April 2023 incident, according to the indictment.

She was charged with one count of theft between $100,000 and $1 million, one count of theft between $20,000 and $100,000, four counts of insurance fraud by claims charges, one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, one count of attempting to influence a public servant, 12 counts of forgery of checks or commercial instruments charges and one count of conspiracy to commit forgery of checks or commercial instruments court records show. All 21 charges are felonies, court records show.

Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser and Gabriel Olivares, an attorney in the AG’s office, filed the state grand jury indictment in Boulder County district court.

The first staged burglary was on April 17, 2023, when Burdine claimed someone broke into Kinesis Dance, stole several computers, the studio’s sound system and $5,775 in cash, according to the indictment. She reportedly filed a claim with her insurance company and got $17,882.86 in a payout.

She later claimed that Kinesis lost income because it had to cancel performances and classes, and was paid out another $51,813.40, the indictment states.

Three months later, on July 28, 2023, Burdine enlisted the help of an employee and the two caused extensive damage to her own 635 S. Broadway studio, before hiring two young men to pose as burglars for security footage, the indictment states.

Surveillance footage showed two men in the studio, according to a Boulder police press release from that July. The pair were accused of spray-painting all over the interior, shattering mirrors and damaging furniture, the release states.

Burdine is accused of submitting altered or fabricated invoices and billing statements from dance studios to show that she was spending money that she wasn’t making back, according to the indictment. On top of the altered bills from real dance studios, she is accused of creating the fake Revolution Dance Sport business to help get the nearly half-million-dollar insurance payout, the indictment states.

One check for $20,250 that Burdine claimed was paid to Revolution Dance Sport was “revealed to be paid to a cosmetic surgery company for ‘Cynthia Burdine,'” according to the indictment.

Burdine also lied about losing income, the indictment alleges. Bank records show that Kinesis Dance was operating and receiving income at the time Burdine claimed she was losing money and business, according to the indictment.

After a former employee tipped the Colorado Attorney General’s Office that the studio had been open and operating, the insurance company stopped all payments to Burdine on her claim and canceled the studio’s insurance policy, the indictment states.

Burdine is also accused of attempting to influence a public servant, Boulder Police Officer Danys Chartrand, according to the indictment.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, Burdine had not been arrested, according to Colorado state court records and Adams and Boulder counties’ jail records.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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