A 49-year-old Hellertown woman is facing felony theft and related charges after authorities say she bilked estate sale clients out of more than $25,000.
Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck announced the charges against Amy Lynn Richline in a news release Tuesday in which he described how the investigation into the case began.
Houck said the initial tip came from a Bethlehem Township resident who had hired Richline’s company, Top Notch Real Estate Sales, to conduct an estate sale of a home on Chester Avenue.
The sale of the home took place in late April, however “Richline has yet to pay the victim for the proceeds of the sales,” Houck said.
Bethlehem Township Police received the man’s report and opened an investigation which Houck said uncovered evidence that Richline had “withheld funds from at least six other individuals in the Lehigh Valley since as far back as 2020.”
Two of the alleged thefts of funds were in the City of Bethlehem, he said, adding that other alleged victims hired Richline to conduct estate sales in Coopersburg, Coplay and Allentown.
Despite repeated attempts by the clients to contact Richline by phone, email and regular mail, as well as with help from police and attorneys, “each individual reported they never received their payment,” the news release said.
If Richline did reply to one of them, she allegedly used the same phrase, telling them: “They’re checking to see if it has been cashed or if it’s been returned to their mail room. This is the 1st step. Because it’s certified funds, it’s not as simple as cutting another check because the funds have already been taken from my account.”
The Lehigh County District Attorney’s office has relinquished jurisdiction to Northampton County for the prosecution of the charges against Richline in both counties, Houck’s office said.
Richline is charged with seven felony counts each of deceptive business practices, theft and receiving stolen property, according to the court docket filed in her case.
Following a preliminary arraignment before a Northampton County district judge late last week, she was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of 10 percent of $50,000 bail, which the docket indicated was posted Friday.
The docket did not list an attorney for Richline.
Richline’s preliminary hearing on the charges she is currently facing is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 29 at 10:30 a.m. before District Judge Sandra McClure.
Authorities said their investigation into Richline and Top Notch Real Estate Sales is ongoing, and urged anyone who believes they may be a victim to contact Bethlehem Township Detective Ed Fox at 610-419-9646 or
ef**@be**********.com
.
As of Tuesday, what appeared to be the website for Top Notch Real Estate Sales was down, however a cached version of the site’s testimonial page featuring positive reviews by local clients was still accessible. The URL for the testimonial page that is no longer working specified that the reviews are “legit.”
Note: All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This story was compiled using information from the Northampton County District Attorney’s office and Northampton County court records.
I don’t know what is going on here. But we hired her to do a sale for us Summer of 2022. We were more than happy with the results, and she had our check to us within a week, which was for over $5000.00. And sold most of our belongings. So needless to say we were more than pleased. She actually arranged for a piece of furniture that was left to be sold weeks after the sale, and never asked for a dime to coordinate it. Wishing her the best-we really liked her and the service she provided for us.