Cornell woman accused of stealing $60,000 from elderly father, dead mother

CHIPPEWA FALLS – A Cornell woman has been accused of racking up more than $60,000 in bank account theft and credit card charges after opening fake checking accounts for her elderly father and late mother.

Christina M. Simon, 37, 820 South St., was charged in Chippewa County Court with theft of personal property between $10,000 and $100,000 and two counts of misappropriation of identification. Simon will appear in court on December 17 before Judge Benjamin Lane.

The theft occurred between January 2022 and January 2023. According to the criminal complaint. Authorities learned from the victims’ relatives that “Simon had opened lines of credit with various banks in the name of his mother, identified as victim #2, who died.”

A male victim (victim 2’s spouse), who is living, was linked to the credit card account. The criminal complaint later identifies him as Simon’s father.

Simon’s mother died on December 10, 2022.

However, Chippewa County Adult Protective Services contacted Victim 1 after noticing “suspicious banking activity” and that the couple were likely victims of fraud.

“(Simon) had opened online banking and canceled paper statements without Victim 1’s permission,” the complaint says. “(She) started transferring money to herself and everywhere. This information became known once (an individual) became the power of attorney over Victim 1’s finances.”

Simon’s access to the bank account was suspended. Simon was “using a bunch of credit cards and the bills were going to his address,” and the victim wasn’t seeing any statements. Simon is also accused of opening a credit card in his name. A number of checks were also written from his account. Charges continued to pile up after Simon’s mother died. He had also made several bank transfers using a phone.

The officer interviewed Simon, who eventually admitted to taking money and opening the fake accounts.

“(She) admitted to taking money from Victim 1, but was going to try to pay it back,” the complaint says. “The amount was possibly around $60,000 and I asked him if he had any remorse. He said he did, but he couldn’t pay it all back.”

The officer obtained 50 checks that were written to Simon that she had signed herself. He acknowledged that he was not given permission to open the credit card accounts.

Online court records show Simon has never been charged with a crime in Wisconsin.