5 people, including caretakers and hairdresser, swindled woman out of $200K, feds say
A woman who received full-time care at her Alabama home was swindled out of more than $200,000 by her caretakers, hairdresser and house cleaner, federal officials said.
Five people have now been indicted in connection with a two-year elder fraud conspiracy scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Alabama said in an April 17 news release.
McClatchy News contacted the attorneys of all five people and did not receive immediate responses.
Two of those indicted on March 28 were a mother and daughter who provided care for the woman at her Birmingham home due to medical issues, officials said.
Mykia Henderson, 32, and her mother, 50-year-old Cynthia Mixon, are accused of stealing and fraudulently using the woman’s credit card information, along with Henderson’s 44-year-old husband, Corey Webb.
They used business banking services such as Square and Stripe to put charges on the woman’s credit card and write themselves checks, in some cases using the woman’s signature, officials said in the indictment. They also included a “description for some of these fraudulent transactions in an effort to disguise their fraudulent nature,” officials said.
The mother and daughter are accused of sharing the woman’s “financial information with other members of the conspiracy.”
In total, the family members stole more than $40,000, financial records show.
The fourth person indicted is the woman’s house cleaner, 33-year-old Whitney Wallace, who pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on March 8.
During the three years she worked as the woman’s house cleaner, she obtained the woman’s credit card numbers without her knowledge, officials said.
Once she stopped working for the woman, she’s accused of using her financial information to make purchases. She spent $24,000 on Amazon, $13,000 on DoorDash and nearly $6,000 from Target, according to records shown in the plea agreement.
Some of her purchases included a commercial-grade bounce house, a 75-inch TV and expensive shoes, officials said.
As part of the plea, she agrees to pay $43,227 in restitution.
The person accused of stealing the most money from the woman is 23-year-old Shakira English, who was the woman’s hairdresser. With her Square account that she used to receive clients’ payments, English charged the woman more than $130,000 and transferred the money to her bank account, officials said.
“Members of the conspiracy would and did use the fraudulently obtained proceeds for their personal use or would share the proceeds with coconspirators,” officials said in English’s indictment. “For example, Shakira English would and did transfer funds to Coconspirator #1 via CashApp or Zelle within days of using Victim #1’s credit card for fraudulent transactions.”
She was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud and one count of identity theft, records show.
If you suspect an elder adult or an adult with disabilities has experienced, is currently experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing abuse, neglect, self-neglect, or financial exploitation, your first step should be to contact the appropriate agency.
National Adult Protective Services Association has a list of state agencies you can contact confidentially. Find help specific to your area here.
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