Saginaw Woman Spent $1.1M Of Mother's Money While Caring For Her: AG

SAGINAW, MI — A 59-year-old Saginaw woman was charged with embezzlement and tax crimes on Monday after prosecutors said she spent more than $1 million of her mother’s money while caring for her after she had suffered multiple strokes.

Valda Cork was charged with two counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable person and two counts of failure to file her taxes or file a false return, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a news release.

Prosecutors said that Cork was appointed as her mother’s guardian and conservator in 2018 after her mother suffered a series of strokes. Over a 12-month period, Cork is said to have spent $1.1 million of her mother’s money – including nearly $665,000, which she allegedly spent on a condo in Florida.

Cork also failed to report $228,817 to probate court after it was determined she did not have the authorization to spend her mother’s money, Nessel said in a news release on Monday.

Nessel’s office alleges that Cork’s plan was to inherit the condo from her mother’s estate without having to go through probate court, thereby cheating her mother’s estate of $664,872.

“A person who takes advantage of a vulnerable person is deplorable,” Nessel said in the release. “A person who commits these types of crimes will be prosecuted and held accountable.”

Cork is due back in court at a later time.