A woman has pled not guilty to stealing from an elderly victim.

Her name is legally Ai Fujiwara but she used to go by Leanne Tolentino.

Officials say the suspect befriended the then 81 year old victim who has dementia, and over the course of nearly a year borrowed money, convinced her to sell her home and started taking money from her bank accounts.

“As part of the alleged fraud, she went to AG office and changed her name to match the same last name as complainant whose last name is Fujiwara,” said senior deputy prosecuting attorney Chris Van Marter. “So Tolentino changed it to Ai Fujiwara with the intend to add her name to victim’s bank accounts which she did. So as no to raise red flags with bank officials that enabled her to conduct dozens of cash withdrawals from victims account.”

Officials say she also had mail sent to her own post office box so the victim’s family wouldn’t catch on.

