A Florida woman ran a scheme on her grandmother that made her at least $317,000 richer. Now, she’s facing time behind prison bars. On Monday (Sept. 23), an Illinois judge sentenced Tanya Absoseada to three years in prison, per a press release from the Southern District of Illinois Attorney’s Office.
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Press Release Reveals Scheme Against Grandmother
Officials say Tanya was from Pompano Beach, Florida, but a southern Illinois judge handed out the prison sentence. The judge’s ruling for the 39-year-old comes after she pled guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud in May.
Prosecutors argued that Tanya Absoseada convinced her grandmother to wire money to her account at least 12 times “under false pretenses.” The incidents occurred between Nov. 2021 and Aug. 2022. In total, she schemed $317,049 from the unnamed senior. FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher Johnson says Tanya relied on “love and devotion” to cash in.
“The fraud perpetrated by Tanya Aboseada relied on the love and devotion of a family member, which is in many ways more heartless than when the perpetrator is a stranger,” Johnson stated, per the release. “The FBI upholds an unwavering commitment to deliver justice to victims of elder fraud, and to prioritize the pursuit of those who deliberately target vulnerable seniors.”
Ultimately, prosecutors say the grandmother wired Tanya money for an alleged truck title transfer, an IRS debt, attorney fees, fines for a car accident, and a family settlement for “an alleged child she killed in a vehicular accident.”
What’s Next?
It’s unclear whether the victim is Tanya’s paternal or maternal grandmother or how authorities learned about the scheme. The press release states that the Justice Department’s Elder Justice Initiative tried the case.
As mentioned, Absoseada is headed to prison for three years. After she gets out, she will be on supervised release for another three years. Finally, she has to pay back every dollar she stole in restitution.
“Seniors are warned to avoid giving money to strangers who may be looking to take advantage of them, but it’s a different kind of deceit when criminals target their own elderly family members,” U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe said. “I appreciate our partnership with the FBI to bring justice for the grandmother, who was simply wanting to help her grandchild she thought was in need.”
