All hell breaks loose - 09 Aug 2009

Well, here's the lead up to one of the worst weeks of my life. We're all familiar with the financial meltdown. In the late winter (start of 2009), Chase (my mothers credit card), MetLife (her insurance and a spending account) and Washington Mutual  (checking and savings accounts) are all merged. Sadly, the ramifications of this escaped me. I'm merrily going about my life believing XX is simply taking a few extra dollars for himself once in awhile and using my mothers checking account to pay some bills.

In early 2009, Chase took over and, I'm guessing, sent out new ATM cards. The bank statements changed also. Not only did XX now see ALL of her accounts and balances, but HE HAD ACCESS! Well, access to the savings account which I thought was safe. If you look a few posts up, you'll see the savings account is at $24,949.48 after my big deposit. Over time, my mom probably took some money out ($1,552 and about $1,244 was transferred to checking during the 2 year 5 month period), so here's the last statement before XX jumps in:
 

It shows $22,152.90. Now here's the following months savings statement:

By the time I discover XX is raiding her savings (while still paying his bills with her checking account) in early August, he's already blown through $4,000! I discovered this on Sunday, August 9th. Logging into the Chase credit card account, I was presented with an entirely new screen. I had been checking the credit card every few months and was lax about the checking account since he couldn't steal too much there and the savings account had been safe. So looking at the new screen, I'm wondering why her checking, savings, MetLife insurance and spending accounts are there (remember this used to be just a credit card account). I quickly put it all together and realize what had happened. XX realized it too, but several months earlier.

So first thing Monday morning (the 10th), I race to the closest Chase bank I can find and close the savings account. I hadn't called my mother about this and perhaps I should have, but I knew she wasn't spending that kind of money. I suspected XX but there was also the possibility of identity theft. I wanted to close it first and then figure out what happened. So here's the statement where I closed the savings account. I left the checking intact. I'm going to explain the transactions below.

 

So you'll see that in closing the savings account, I was left with $18,010.77. The next week was very bad as XX went absolutely berserk. More on that later. I deposited the money at another bank in my mothers name with me as POA. Because of the events that unfolded during the week, I was forced to return the money where XX could get at it. Figuratively speaking, my brother had, and still has, a gun to my mothers head. Any move I make ultimately affects her. Before I close the new accounts, I send a check for $3,263.00 to the credit card and cancel it before he runs it up to the $4K limit. Not only was I angry about the balance, but he's not making payments on time and so the interest and fees are adding up. After that's done I close the new accounts. After paying $11 for checks, $50 early closing fee and allowing for .30 in interest, I get a check for $14,687.07 which I deposit into my mothers checking account. You'll see that in the image above. Also you'll see a withdrawal 9/2 for $503.50. I gave my mother a gift card so she would have something for cash while all the transactions settled.

I want to mention that XX can't seem to pay anything on time. The lights went out once for not paying the electric bill. Her cable went out another time. I saw a warning letter from the auto insurance company that coverage was about to be dropped (it was a postcard). On and on....

By the way, I discovered he has an alias name, Tom Crown. What if he used it to fraudulently obtain a government ID? I have information XX's drivers license is suspended. I believe XX created the alias in order to obtain a new drivers license and perhaps other government ID's and/or financial accounts. It's possible he created the alias with information found through his employment at a financial institution.

SUMMARY: He starts stealing in a big way. And it's blatant stealing at that. He has an alias and most likely obtained a new drivers license with it. Highly probable his 'real' license was suspended.