Missouri woman indicted for scamming over 1 million from elderly Facebook user

A woman from Independence, Missouri, was arrested following a five-count federal indictment alleging she defrauded an elderly victim of more than $1 million.

Amanda Sargent, 35, was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 26, 2025. The indictment was unsealed after her arrest. According to the indictment, Sargent allegedly met the victim through a Facebook group that connects individuals experiencing homelessness in the Kansas City area with community resources.

In late 2021, Sargent posted a request in the Facebook group asking for assistance with car repairs. The elderly victim responded by sending a small amount of money. Over the next two years, Sargent allegedly made repeated false claims requesting help for various expenses, including medical bills, rent, utilities, and a kidney transplant. The victim believed the money was helping Sargent and her children and ultimately sent over $1 million between late 2021 and mid-2023.

According to the indictment, Sargent’s claims were false, and she withdrew the money in cash for personal use.

The Platte County Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation after the victim reported the suspected fraud. The indictment includes five counts, each representing separate alleged acts of fraud.

The charges in the indictment are accusations and do not constitute evidence of guilt. Prosecutors must present evidence to a federal trial jury, which will determine guilt or innocence.

If convicted, Sargent faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. Sentencing will be determined by the court, based on federal guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be set following a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

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Missouri woman indicted for scamming over 1 million from elderly Facebook user

Portland woman indicted, accused of stealing more than $800K from vulnerable adults

by: Alicia Patton

SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Sumner County woman was recently indicted after a joint investigation revealed that she misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars from vulnerable adults through her businesses.

Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and Tennessee Comptroller Office said they began investigating allegations involving 70-year-old Eileen Theresa Santangelo in May 2023 after receiving a request to do so from the District Attorney General of the 18th Judicial District.

Eileen Santangelo (Courtesy: Sumner County Sheriff’s Office)

During the course of the investigation, authorities said they developed information that Santangelo had misappropriated at least $804,247 from multiple individuals through her businesses which include, Serenity Homes of TN and Church and Chapel Funeral Service in Portland; and Restlawn Memory Gardens in Franklin, Kentucky.

According to the comptroller officer, Santangelo entered a trust agreement with a Portland business owner and later took money from the trust, which was where most of the misappropriation ($687,763.05) occurred. The misappropriation included the victim’s residence, sale of his rental properties, and other funds collected for the trust.

Santangelo is also accused of using the victim’s credit card before died to make a $14,150 purchase and after he died in 2023 to make a $1,362.18 purchase. In addition, authorities said she used another disabled individual’s credit card after he died, spending $3,136,42.

The comptroller’s office said the 70-year-old used approximately $91,246,18 from a $100,000 investment that was made to her business for her personal expenses, such as a trip to Australia and a loan payment for a car in her spouse’s name.

Based on the investigation, a Sumner County Grand Jury returned indictments last month charging Santangelo with one count of fraudulent use of a credit card over $10,000, one count of fraudulent use of a credit card over $1,000, three counts of theft over $250,000, two counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable/elderly Adult over $250,000, and two counts of money laundering.

The TBI reported she was arrested on Monday, Nov. 18 and is being held in the Sumner County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

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Portland woman indicted, accused of stealing more than $800K from vulnerable adults

Levittown Woman Indicted for Allegedly Stealing Over $150,000 from Ward Through Guardianship

By Chris Boyle

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Levittown woman was indicted on charges of grand larceny for allegedly stealing more than $150,000 from a developmentally challenged man for whom she acted as legal guardian between July 2016 and June 2019.

 

Luigia a/k/a/ Gina D’Amore, 57, was arraigned before Judge Fran Ricigliano on one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony); one count of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree (an E felony); and two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (an E felony.) The defendant pleaded not guilty and was released on her own recognizance. She is due back in court February 15, 2023. If convicted, D’Amore faces up to five to 15 years in prison. 

 

“This defendant befriended her alleged victim when they worked together for the Town of Hempstead, ultimately becoming his legal guardian after his retirement and taking control of the man’s finances,” said DA Donnelly. “For the next several years, this defendant allegedly siphoned more than $150,000 from her elderly victim’s accounts and failed to pay his bills, leaving him to live in a mouse-infested home. The residence fell into disrepair and was nearly lost due to non-payment of taxes. This charged conduct is reprehensible, and my office will ensure justice for the victim in this case.”

 

DA Donnelly said that, according to the charges and NCDA’s investigation, between July 2016 and June 2019, while serving as a court appointed guardian for the victim, a developmentally challenged Town of Hempstead Parks Department retiree, D’Amore allegedly stole more than $150,000 from the victim’s bank accounts without providing proof to the court that the funds were used for the victim’s benefit as required as part of the guardianship.

 

The defendant allegedly skimmed checks she received on behalf of the victim, depositing portions of the checks into the victim’s account, and taking out the rest in cash. The defendant also allegedly made additional cash withdrawals from the victim’s banking accounts and wrote checks out to “cash” for tens of thousands of dollars that were negotiated through D’Amore’s personal account. 

 

D’Amore failed to provide receipts for the cash withdrawals and checks when she submitted her accounting to the court as the victim’s guardian. 

 

In addition, D’Amore allegedly failed to pay the victim’s utilities or for repairs to the home, leaving the property to fall into disrepair.

 

The defendant also allegedly failed to pay property taxes on the home between 2018 and 2019, leading to a tax lien being placed on the victim’s home and the property nearly being auctioned in February 2020 for non-payment. 

 

Before the defendant was removed, she resigned as the victim’s Guardian in April 2019. 

 

D’Amore surrendered to Nassau County District Attorney Detective Investigators on December 16, 2022.

 

NCDA thanks the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Bureau of Adult Services for referring this matter for prosecution.

 

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel April Montgomery of the Financial Crimes Bureau. The defendant was represented by Tim Aldridge, Esq. at arraignment.  The defendant is represented by Russ Kofman, Esq.

 

The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.

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Levittown Woman Indicted for Allegedly Stealing Over $150,000 from Ward Through Guardianship

Woman indicted in months-long abuse of elderly veteran

By Julie Manganis

SALEM — A Salem woman was indicted Wednesday in a months-long campaign of physical abuse and threats against an elderly Vietnam veteran who thought he could help her.

Tina Lizotte, 62, who was arrested in June, now faces a potential state prison term if convicted of charges that include five counts each of assault and battery on a person 60 or older and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, as well as a charge of witness intimidation.

The victim, 75, is a now-former neighbor of Lizotte at the Salem Heights apartment complex at 12 Pope St., a privately operated low-income development where both lived at the time.

The man’s family had grown increasingly concerned for his well-being after noticing unusual financial transactions on his bank account and that he was more and more difficult to reach. When they did see him he would sometimes have bruises, which he would attribute to falls.

Even as police, elder services and the complex’s management became involved, the man minimized the situation, telling them that Lizotte would reimburse him for expenses, and she was only holding onto his wallet inside a safe in her apartment for safekeeping.

Both the victim and Lizotte initially told investigators the man’s family was simply meddling.

But at the end of June, police encountered the man as he attempted to seek medical attention.

He would eventually disclose that over the course of their friendship, Lizotte had grown increasingly demanding and when he didn’t accede to her demands, would become physically abusive, according to police reports.

The man told investigators that Lizotte hit him with a mop, a broom and a belt, bit him, jabbed him in the eye, and cut and burned him, according to the indictments.

He said he’d felt sorry for Lizotte, who uses a wheelchair and suffers from a long list of health issues, and offered help when her daughter, who has been paid by the state to care for Lizotte as a personal care assistant, was pregnant. Later he continued caring for Lizotte because her daughter was busy with her own children.

The man, who still drove, offered to bring her to medical appointments and pick up medications for her at the pharmacy, among other chores.

But as police and other investigators began asking questions last spring, he told them, Lizotte’s anger grew — and so did the abuse, according to a police report.

At her initial court appearance in district court, Lizotte threw a headset across the courtroom. She was sent for an evaluation, which found that she suffered from multiple physical illnesses but no psychiatric diagnosis other than a personality disorder.

She did acknowledge her anger issues, a judge noted in a subsequent order releasing her on conditions in July.

The indictments move the case from Salem District Court to Superior Court.

An arraignment date had not been set as of Thursday.

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Woman indicted in months-long abuse of elderly veteran