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[Anonymous]

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to your Grandparents. The exact same situation happened to my Grandparents before they passed. My Aunt moved from Ca to Pa with the pretense of helping my elderly grandparents, back in 2000. Just like your grandparents, mine never had any debt. Always paid in full, and had a few large limit credit cards that they rarely carried balances on.

Next thing we know their banking account info changed, money was taken out of their accounts, and their credit cards maxed.

Unfortunately, when you trust a family member, you do not know what is going on behind closed doors. It is elder abuse and identity theft. No different than if a stranger did it. Unfortunately, this is more and more common.

[Anonymous]

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@Marcos8 wrote:

Is it possible that your grandparents in their poor health asked your aunt to help manage their account for them since they may have not been able to do it themselves? 

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This was my thought as well

[Anonymous]

Ok, lets just say that this is fraud. What kind of consequences is my aunt likely to face?

[Anonymous]

In Oregon she would likely serve prision time. I suspect that holds true most places. I know you don't want to hear this because she's family but this happens all the time.

[Anonymous]

My mother (her sister) is really torn about how we proceed. My aunt is seriously ill in ICU right now. This really is a huge mess!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My mother (her sister) is really torn about how we proceed. My aunt is seriously ill in ICU right now. This really is a huge mess!

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If it were me, I would probably focus my concern on the well-being of my Aunt first. I would also speak to your grandmother just to make sure that you're not misunderstanding the situation. I wouldn't worry about how to proceed until you are sure there is in fact an issue, and your Aunt is out of the ICU.

[CountryLivin]

If it were me, I would talk to your grandparents and find out for sure if she did anything wrong....right now you are just assuming. I would talk to your grandparents, and if your aunt is doing this and they had no knowledge....CLOSE the account. Then when she is well enough, you all sit down and have a discussion.....she pays them all off and if she defaults, press charges.

[Anonymous]

Get a power of attorney and deal directly with the discover. Otherwise, it is not really your business. Obv your aunt is well enough to pay her bills on time.