Fla. Woman Who Scammed Her Own Grandmother Out of More Than $317,000 Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison

A Florida woman has been sentenced to three years in prison for scamming her grandmother out of more than $317,000.

On Monday, Sept. 23, Tanya M. Aboseada of Pompano Beach, Fla., appeared in court, where she received the sentencing from a southern Illinois judge after pleading guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud in May, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Southern District of Illinois Office.

Aboseada, 39, convinced her grandmother, who lives in Cahokia Heights, Ill., “to wire money into her bank account under false pretenses on at least 12 occasions between November 2021 and August 2022,” the release stated, citing court documents.

The amount the victim wired her granddaughter totaled $317,049. Aboseada was said to have lied about “needing money to transfer a truck title into her name, owing money to the IRS, paying attorney fees and fines for a vehicular accident she was in, and paying the family of an alleged child she killed in a vehicular accident to avoid going to jail,” per the release.

Aboseada has been ordered to pay the full amount she stole in restitution in addition to her prison sentence, as well as being ordered to serve three years of supervised release.

“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, per the news release. 

“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,” Crowe added.

FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge, Christopher Johnson, said, “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.” 

“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,” Johnson added.

The case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, which aims to “combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nation’s older adults,” per the U.S. Department of Justice website.

Crowe said in a previous press release in May, “The Department’s Elder Justice Initiative dedicates federal resources to combat abuse and financial crimes targeted at senior citizens.” 

“I’m thankful for our partnership with the FBI to hold offenders accountable, and in this case, a criminal who stole from and victimized her elderly family member,” Crowe added.

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At the time, FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge, David Nanz, also said, “Older Americans are too often the target of scammers who hide behind computer screens while stealing money. But criminals who steal the hard-earned life savings of their own family members demonstrate an even greater disregard for this vulnerable population.”

“The FBI is committed to investigating and holding to account those intent on harming seniors,” Nanz continued.