Brain Injured Woman Says She is Victim of Fraud

A Caledonia woman who said she was taken advantage of after suffering a brain injury will have to use civil courts instead of criminal to rectify her situation. 

Caledonia police report they were called on Tuesday to a residence to read through a written statement provided by a woman who said she was the victim of fraud. When officers arrived at her home, the woman told police she voluntarily opened a bank account with a Milwaukee man in June 2012 so they could start a film production company together.

The opening deposit was $6,500 of her money, she reported, because the man didn’t have any money. When she checked the balance on the account, she noticed it was $1,000 short and believes the man kept it for himself.

In about six weeks, both the woman and the man ordered film equipment using the debit cards they each were issued with the bank account. The man closed the account at the end of July 2012 with an ending balance of $4.19.

The woman told police the man with whom she opened the account is a convicted felon who is a master manipulator who learned psychology in prison.  She said she felt like a victim of fraud because she was recuperating from a brain injury suffered in a motorcycle accident at the time these incidents took place.

When officers asked the woman if she wanted to initiate a no contact order, she reportedly told them she wasn’t afraid because she has a firearm.

Police advised the woman this was a civil matter, and she would have to take the man to civil court for return of the film equipment.