D.A.: Woman made fake GoFundMe page, stole from mom

A Brookhaven woman who stole $40,000 from her 92-year-old mother added insult to injury by creating a fraudulent GoFundMe page where she falsely claimed that her mom was in declining mental and physical health, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

Carol Mongrandi, 53, of Patton Avenue near Victor, has been charged with theft, receiving stolen property, forgery and related offenses for exploiting her aging mother.

Investigators with the District Attorney's Office were tipped off to Mongrandi when her 92-year-old mother stopped paying her bills at Lima Estates, where she had lived for 35 years without missing a payment. Lima administrators told investigators that when Mongrandi took over as her mother's power of attorney, the payments stopped and Mongrandi's mother's account was now in default of more than $32,000, the District Attorney said.

Through investigations, detectives learned that Mongrandi was also allegedly withdrawing money from her mother's bank account and setting up credit cards in her mother's name. Through further digging, detectives found that Mongrandi had set up a GoFundMe page for her mother, whom she claimed was in declining physical and mental health after suffering two strokes.

However, police said that her mother was in good health and that Mongrandi stole the $1,200 that she raised on the crowdfunding site in her mother's name.

When all was said and done, detectives determined that Mongrandi had stolen more than $40,000 in her mother's name, according to the District Attorney's Office.

"It is far too often we see crimes against seniors committed by loved ones who feel entitled in their positions of authority," said District Attorney Jack Whelan. "In this particular case, Carol Mongrandi stole from her very own mother, putting her previously sound financial accounts in default by thousands of dollars."