Jackson bail bond agent charged with felony stealing

A bond agent faces felony stealing charges after his employer learned he allegedly siphoned $1,500 from a bond payment and kept it for himself, according to a probable cause statement by Detective Eric Friedrich of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

On Nov. 7, Simon Ebenstein, 62, of Jackson, as a registered bond agent with A-A Action Bail Bonds, posted a $30,000 bond for a Cape Girardeau County inmate.

Inmates are typically asked to pay 10 percent of the bond to get out of jail, and Ebenstein collected a check for $3,000 from someone who agreed to supply the money for the inmate.

Ebenstein was owed a $1,500 fee as commission for the bond, and the other half of the $3,000 was to be sent to A-A Action Bonds for their costs in posting the remainder of the amount for the inmate.

On March 7, Ebenstein filed an agent's report with the company saying he only received $1,500 from the inmate, and had discounted the remainder of the amount because a church had paid the bond. As a result of the report, allegedly falsified, the bond company believed they were only entitled to $750 instead of the $1,500.

On Sept. 17, the company manager showed detectives a canceled check for $3,000 that Ebenstein had received, along with his contract with the company agreeing to give them 50 percent of the premium charged.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245