Police: Woman faked ex's signature to sell boat

WOODSTOCK – A Cary-area woman is facing a felony charge for allegedly selling a boat that she owned with her ex-boyfriend after he moved out of state with another woman.

Kathleen Helman, 51, allegedly forged the ex-boyfriend’s signature to sell a $22,000 boat shortly after the couple split in 2006, police said.

“[The ex-boyfriend] moved to Arizona, left the boat in Illinois,” McHenry County Sheriff’s Detective David Mullen said. “He came back to Illinois to find out what happened to his boat, and she had sold it.”

A man from Minnesota bought the boat from an online listing, and Helman received about $2,000 after paying off the boat loan, Mullen said.

Now, Helman, formerly of 725 Rawson Bridge Road, near Cary, is wanted on a warrant for theft over $10,000. She could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Police believe that Helman has left the state but plans to turn herself in.

– Jillian Duchnowski