Man charged with financial exploitation of his 81-year-old grandmother

by Eric Fleischauer

Mar. 26—A man stole $35,000 from his 81-year-old grandmother in Somerville, according to the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, and was arrested Thursday.

Graham Christian Selva, 26, was charged with first-degree financial exploitation of an elderly person and third-degree harassment. He remained in the Morgan County Jail on Friday in lieu of a $36,000 cash bond.

Selva lived with his grandmother in Somerville and is unemployed, according to an affidavit filed in Morgan County District Court by sheriff's Sgt. John Dickson. The grandmother on March 16 found that her People's Bank checking account balance was $10,000, down from the $40,000 balance it had the last time she checked, according to the affidavit. She told Dickson she had also noticed that Selva was frequently using a cash app and was buying guns.

When she confronted Selva about how he was paying for the guns, he said, "I got ways to get money," according to the affidavit.

Dickson said money was being withdrawn from the grandmother's checking account with a debit card and being deposited in a cash app account.

Selva was also charged with misdemeanor harassment for allegedly twisting his grandmother's wrist and taking her cellphone.

After finding Selva to be indigent, the court on Friday appointed Brian White of Decatur as his lawyer.

In a separate petition for a protection-from-abuse order filed Monday, the grandmother alleged Selva also stole money from her purse. She said he grabbed her arm, "twisted it, and threatened to kill me and himself."

Morgan County Circuit Judge Stephen Brown granted the protection-from-abuse petition and ordered Selva to have no contact with his grandmother, to stay away from her home and not to sell any of the guns or tools he had allegedly purchased with her money. Brown scheduled a hearing for April 20 to determine whether the order will remain in place.

According to a traffic citation, Selva in February lived in an apartment on Sandlin Road Southwest in Decatur.

First-degree financial exploitation of an elderly person is a Class B felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

In 2020, Selva was charged in Madison County with possession of methamphetamine. He was indicted on the charge last March and in June the charge was dismissed on the condition he complete an in-patient drug treatment program.

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Man charged with financial exploitation of his 81-year-old grandmother