75 Y.O. Grandmother Charged In Car Scam

[matcom]

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WITH her walking cane and her oxygen cart, 75-year-old Betty Gooch easily won the confidence of car dealers when she went shopping for new cars, minivans, and sport utility vehicles (SUV).

The grandmother would hand over a check, and then ask the dealer to hold off cashing it, until she could get her broker to move funds into that account, or retrieve the money from a retirement account, according to authorities.

But in at least two recent cases those checks bounced, according to police who believe Gooch may have scammed a dozen car dealers in the suburban Chicago area in a similiar fashion over the past four years, the Chicago Tribune has reported.

The grandmother has been charged with five felony counts of theft by deception and passing bad cheques in those two cases, the Tribune said.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9070270%255E13762,00.html