WATERBURY, CT — A Waterbury woman with a troubling history of fraud stretching across multiple employers has pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison.

Marlenin Vito, 46, of Waterbury, appeared in New Haven federal court this week, where she admitted to orchestrating a series of schemes that defrauded employers and exploited some of society’s most vulnerable — elderly residents in assisted living.

According to court documents and public statements made during the plea hearing, Vito used her position as Medicaid Coordinator at a Stamford-based assisted living facility (Company A) to manipulate patient trust accounts and divert funds for personal use. Between December 2019 and May 2021, she forged checks, faked account ledgers, and even stole COVID-19 stimulus payments from residents — some of whom were too ill or mentally incapacitated to notice.

Vito is accused of forging a co-worker’s signature to create nearly 500 fraudulent checks, resulting in the theft of over $310,000 from elderly residents. In some cases, she canceled patients’ supplemental health insurance policies but continued to withdraw money from their accounts, pocketing the difference.

When suspicious family members raised questions, Vito allegedly created fake account statements to cover her tracks.

After being fired from Company A, Vito landed a job as bookkeeper and scheduler at an alarm company in White Plains, New York (Company B). There, she is said to have continued her fraudulent behavior by falsifying overtime pay for herself and her daughter, and charging over $10,000 in personal deliveries to her Waterbury home using company funds — bringing the total loss to $23,558.

Despite two terminations, the fraud did not stop. Vito was next hired as a bookkeeper for a law firm in Hartford (Company C), where she allegedly generated and cashed fake “Petty Cash” checks totaling $27,179, again using forged signatures and deceptive bookkeeping practices to conceal the theft.

In total, Marlenin Vito stole more than $360,000 through an interconnected web of deceit, fake paperwork, and forgery across Connecticut and New York.

Vito is currently out on a $25,000 bond and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 10, 2025. She faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for her crimes.

The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with crucial assistance from local departments including the Stamford, Hartford, and Ridgefield Police, as well as the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in New York.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael S. McGarry and Nathan J. Guevremont.

Crime Watch | The Waterbury Times

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