A former Belvidere resident bilked public assistance programs in Warren County out of more than $70,000 by lying about her income, according to court records.

A Warren County grand jury Wednesday indicted Darlene Maciunski, now of Hamlin, N.Y., on charges of theft, theft by deception and false swearing in connection with a scheme that dated to 2006, according to court records.

Assistant Prosecutor Steven M. Siegel, who presented the case to the grand jury, said this case was especially egregious due to the amount of money and the length of time during which Maciunski scammed the county and its taxpayers.

"The public should be aware of any crime committed in Warren County and in this case it was a theft of a lot of money, over $70,000, from the taxpayers of Warren County," Siegel said today.

According court records, the 47-year-old Maciunski in June 2006 applied for benefits through the Warren County Division of Temporary Assistance and Social Services. She was approved for assistance through several programs, including food stamps, emergency housing assistance and Medicaid, records state.

But according to prosecutors, Maciunski should never have been eligible for the programs as her ex-husband had been regularly paying $2,000 a month in alimony and child support. That amount of money alone, Siegel said, exceeded eligibility limits for the programs.

But the scheme continued for nearly six years as Maciunski provided inaccurate bank statements and lied about her income in sworn affidavits, according to the indictment. In total, she is alleged to have received $71,181 in benefits from Warren County's assistance programs.

The scheme came to an end in January 2012 when Maciunski moved to Monroe County in upstate New York, authorities say. Once there, she again applied for, and was granted, admission to assistance programs for roughly six months.

It wasn't until officials in New York became suspicious and began investigating that authorities found she had been accepting money from her ex-husband and should not have been eligible for the programs, Siegel said.

Authorities in New York notified Warren County officials, who conducted an investigation of their own revealing the large amount of fraud they say had taken place.

If convicted in Warren County, Maciunski faces three to five years in prison on the most serious charge. She also faces charges in New York relating to the theft there, prosecutors said.

Maciunski's status is unknown.