A River Falls resident is on the hook for more than $50,000 in charges her friend racked up without her knowledge or permission on her credit card.

Mary Jane Cincotta, 62, Deer Park, posted a $50,000 signature bond May 13 on a felony financial transaction card – fraudulent use > $10,000 charge. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or fines up to $25,000.

According to the complaint:

At 10:13 a.m. Nov. 3, 2023, a River Falls resident reported to police that her friend and owner of St. Croix Boutique, Cincotta, had used her credit card without her permission or knowledge to make a purchase from Gerson Companies and she was having a hard time reaching her or getting her to refund the money.

The victim told police she had allowed Cincotta to use her American Express card on May 26, 2023 to make a one-time purchase from Gerson Companies, a home décor wholesaler, totaling $12,538.76, which Cincotta paid back. However, she noticed the card had been used again on July 10, 2023 to make two purchases from Gerson Companies totaling $53,006.88; she did not consent to these purchases and was disputing them with American Express. She also said Gerson Companies had reached out to Cincotta for another form of payment, but she hadn’t given them one, leaving the victim responsible for the purchases.

The victim said the items purchases were sent to Cincotta’s home in Deer Park and that her husband signed off on the delivery. She also informed police she had changed her credit card number and hadn’t heard from Cincotta about repaying the money. She provided police with paperwork from Gerson Companies and Ryan Transportation, plus screenshots of conversations about the repayment.

When police interviewed Cincotta on 2:32 p.m. Dec. 15, 2023 at St. Croix Boutique (which has since closed and reopened under a new name and owner), she said Gerson Companies placed the order without her permission or her knowledge. She claimed to know nothing about the order until the victim told her about the credit card charges. She acknowledged she had used the victim’s card once, with permission, because her own card was maxed out. Cincotta said she called Gerson Companies and asked them to use her card for the order, but they told her they couldn’t because there was no guarantee American Express would reimburse the victim. Cincotta also claimed the order was delivered to her home “in the middle of the night” by some “chop shop outfit.”

Cincotta said the card may have been saved when she used it in May 2023 for the one-time purchase and that the company used it accidentally for the July 2023 purchases. She also said Gerson Companies refused to call her back and ignored her attempts to rectify the situation. She then told officers she’d pay the victim back by Jan. 1, 2024, but that never happened.

On Jan. 3, 2024, the victim told police she’d received no payment or communication from Cincotta. Police went back to Cincotta’s store at 10:24 a.m. Jan. 15 to conduct another interview. Cincotta told them she was waiting for funds to be transferred from a trust for her husband’s care so she could pay the victim back. She claimed the trust’s executor, her husband’s older sister, was telling her the funds couldn’t be transferred yet. When asked for the sister’s contact information, she didn’t give it to police; instead, she said she’d just pay the victim back herself that day. She later changed her story and said she hadn’t paid the victim back because she thought there was a no contact order between them. There wasn’t any.

The store manager told police that she normally makes orders for the store but hadn’t used the victim’s credit card. She knew nothing about the purchase made in May 2023 by Cincotta using the victim’s card with permission. She also explained that inventory purchases were made at least six months in advance, and if an item wasn’t available, it wasn’t charged until it was shipped. She remembered ordering the items in July 2022 that were then charged in July 2023 to the victim’s card but had no idea why the victim’s card had been used.

In February 2024, the victim told police she had received a payment of $2,000 from Cincotta, which came as a check in the mail, $300 of which was owed from selling Cincotta’s wares at the victim’s orchard. She wasn’t sure if the remaining $1,700 was to start paying for the credit card purchases or not. She also said the store manager told her that Gerson’s called Cincotta each time an order was placed to confirm the credit card for payment.

Cincotta was ordered to pay Gerson Companies, who had reimbursed the victim, a total of $76,501 in St. Croix County Civil Court in August 2024.

A status conference is scheduled in the criminal case for 1:45 p.m. July 16 at Pierce County Courthouse.