A mother and daughter from Alabama have been sentenced for their roles in an elder fraud scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco handed down sentences to Mykia L. Henderson, 32, of Moody, and Cynthia H. Mixon, 50, of Fairfield. Henderson received 87 months in prison while Mixon was sentenced to 57 months. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Court documents state that between December 2020 and February 2022, Henderson and Mixon worked as in-home caretakers for an elderly victim. They used their access to the victim’s financial information to share details with each other and others involved in the scheme. The two set up fraudulent accounts through Square, Inc. and Stripe, Inc., then charged the victim’s credit cards using these accounts before depositing the stolen funds into their own bank accounts or dividing them among themselves.
To conceal the thefts, they included false descriptions on transactions so that the charges would not be discovered by the victim. Additionally, unauthorized checks were written from the victim’s bank accounts payable to themselves. In total, nearly $500,000 was stolen through this conspiracy.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Mountain Brook Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan S. Rummage prosecuted.
"Reporting from consumers about fraud and fraud attempts is critical to law enforcements’ efforts to investigate and prosecute schemes targeting older adults," said officials in a statement.
Resources are available for victims of elder financial fraud through the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833 FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This hotline is managed by the Office for Victims of Crime under the Department of Justice and offers support seven days a week in multiple languages including English and Spanish. Further information on federal efforts regarding elder justice can be found at www.elderjustice.gov.
