Story updated at 12:56 p.m. April 10 to include new information from Burdine’s April 10 court date.

Cindy Burdine, the former owner of Frequency Dance, was arrested April 9 on 21 felony charges tied to an alleged scheme to stage a break-in at her studio in 2023.

Burdine was being held in the Boulder County Jail, but bonded out sometime between the afternoon of her arrest and the next morning, when she was supposed to appear in court and be officially informed of her charges. Those charges could carry significant prison time if she is convicted.

Burdine did not appear in court. Her attorney said she may have been under the impression her court date was April 13. Her first court appearance is now scheduled for April 29. In the meantime, the prosecution filed a protective order against Burdine on behalf of the witnesses and alleged victims in the case.

A grand jury indicted Burdine on March 27. The charges include insurance fraud, theft, forgery and attempting to influence a public servant, according to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors allege she hired others to pose as burglars as part of a scheme to collect nearly $500,000 in insurance payouts.

Prosecutors say Burdine submitted forged invoices from dance studios and altered bank statements, in one case creating an entirely fake business, “Revolution Dance Sport.” Investigators say the staged break-in was part of a broader effort to inflate losses and collect insurance payouts.

Burdine did not respond to a request for comment.

Read BRL’s previous coverage: 

Brooke Stephenson is a reporter for Boulder Reporting Lab, where she covers local government, housing, transportation, policing and more. Previously, she worked at ProPublica, and her reporting has been published by Carolina Public Press and Trail Runner Magazine. Most recently, she was the audience and engagement editor at Cardinal News, a nonprofit covering Southwest and Southside Virginia. Email: brooke@boulderreportinglab.org.

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