The revelation
Over dessert, David told me about the house on the shores of Lake Morrison that he had supposedly given me two years earlier, as well as monthly financial assistance of $1,500 intended to cover my expenses.
I had never received anything. No house. No money.
David turned pale. The payments had been made. The documents too. His assistant had handled everything. The payments had been made for two years.
$36,000.
A sum that would have changed my life.
When his assistant was called, the truth came out: the funds had been deposited into a bank account in my name… but one I had never opened. The associated address didn’t belong to me. The house documents had been sent to an unknown address.
This information had been provided by only one person: Victoria, my stepdaughter.
She had changed my contact information, opened bank accounts using my identity, forged my signature, and diverted every dollar meant to help me. The house by the lake was occupied by her family.
That day, I realized that the woman who smiled at me at the table had been stealing from me for two years.
The investigation and the collapse
What began as a simple embezzlement turned out to be a massive fraud. Three bank accounts opened in my name. Credit cards. A loan. Falsified tax returns.
In total, nearly $78,000 was stolen.
Even worse: I was officially under tax investigation for income I had never received.
Victoria finally confessed. She said she had « borrowed » the money to help her parents. She claimed she wanted to pay me back. But for two years, she had continued, knowingly and methodically.
David filed for divorce. The police were notified. Victoria was sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraud and identity theft.
Rebuilding after betrayal
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