BENTON – A Florida woman was sentenced to three years in prison by a Southern Illinois judge after admitting to scamming her Cahokia Heights grandmother out of more than $300,000. Tanya M. Aboseada, 39, of Pompano Beach, Fla., pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud in May 2024.
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “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.”
According to court documents, Aboseada convinced her grandmother, who resides in Cahokia Heights, Illinois, to wire money into her bank account under false pretenses on at least 12 occasions between November 2021 and August 2022.
Aboseada admitted to lying about various needs, including transferring a truck title, owing money to the IRS, paying attorney fees and fines for a vehicular accident, and compensating the family of an alleged child she killed in a vehicular accident to avoid jail. In total, the U.S. attorney said Aboseada stole $317,049 from her grandmother.
“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,” said FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher Johnson. “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.”
In addition to her prison sentence, the judge ordered Aboseada to pay $317,049 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative. The FBI Springfield Field Office conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Verseman and Kathleen Howard prosecuted the case.
