A nanny accused of taking her Chappaqua family's credit cards on a $16,000 shopping excursion had her case referred Thursday to a Westchester County grand jury.

The new jurisdiction was among a handful of changes in the case against Prescila Pereira, 22, a Brazilian national living in Bedford on a visa. Arrested Aug. 12 and charged in New Castle with grand larceny and identity theft, Pereira was later charged in North Castle with second-degree forgery and criminal possession of stolen property. She now faces similar charges in Eastchester, it was disclosed Thursday in New Castle Justice Court.

In addition to acquiring new charges, Pereira has also changed her defense counsel, retaining Robert Mancuso, a prominent White Plains criminal-defense lawyer who replaced her appointed Legal Aid Society attorney.

Wearing a short-sleeve yellow top, black Guess jeans and sandals, Pereira stood silently, hands manacled in front of her, as Town Justice David Zuckerman kept her bail amount at $10,000. She remains confined at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla, pending action by the grand jury, which must decide whether there is sufficient evidence for a trial.

New Castle police said Pereira stole the cards on July 1 or July 2 from a Chappaqua family that employed her as a nanny. The family, which has obtained an order of protection forbidding any contact by Pereira, has not been publicly identified.

Pererira allegedly then used the cards, police said, to bankroll purchases in the first two weeks of July at multiple stores in Westchester, New York City and Danbury, leaving in her wake charges of more than $16,000.

Pereira has lived in the United States for three years on a visa from Brazil, spending part of her time here as a Westchester Community College student, her attorney told the court last month. Zuckerman originally set bail at $20,000 when Pereira was arraigned last month, but Town Justice Douglas Kraus cut that amount in half at a subsequent hearing. In addition to the bail, which has not been met despite the reduction in required cash, Pereira has also had to surrender her passport.

Other Actions Taken by Zuckerman at Thursday's Justice Court Session:

SENTENCED: Travis Walker to six months in the county lockup on a probation violation following his arrest in Mount Kisco on a misdemeanor charge of fondling a woman in Shopper's Park.

ADJOURNED: Until Sept. 16 the case of Patrick Mazzullo, 49, charged in connection with the reported theft of jewelry, valued at more than $6,000, from his New Castle landlord. Mazzullo, a resident of Sanibel Island, FL, has been held at the county jail since his arrest Aug. 9.

ADJOURNED: Until Oct. 7 the case of Melanie L. Moore, 30, of Cortlandt, charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated last year on the Taconic Parkway.