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HUNTINGTON, Emery County — A woman was charged Monday with pocketing money belonging to her elderly grandmother supposed to be used to pay bills.
Megan Tara Fillmore, 39, is charged in 7th District Court with financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a second-degree felony, and abuse of a vulnerable adult, a class A misdemeanor.
The investigation began in February when a man contacted the Emery County Sheriff's Office saying he had recently been granted access to his mother's bank account. He told detectives about 10 years ago, Fillmore had moved into his mother's house with her husband and daughter.
"He said that Megan was placed on the bank account back in November of 2020. She was in charge of his mother's bills and care taking," according to charging documents.
But in January, the son was contacted by a Huntington city official who said he was going to have to shut the water off to his mother's home because she had not paid her bill in several months.
After checking her financial records, the son discovered all of the money going into his mother's account was being spent — but not on bills, the charges state.
The son also got a letter from the power company saying electricity to the home would be shut off for nonpayment since 2022. "The total bill was over $4,000," according to the charges.
The son told police, "there is no money in checking or savings," while also telling police he wanted to "file a complaint for fraud and elder abuse for the money that has been taken from his mother over the last four years."
A second son told investigators "Megan was supposed to help care for his mother and take care of the house, cook and do laundry." She was also given access to the mother's bank account to pay bills, he reiterated. But the gas bill was overdue by $525, the charges say.
"He also advised that she had property taxes due from 2021 in the amount of $1,926. (He) also stated that the credit union advised him that there were a lot of transfers from that account to Megan's personal account," the court documents allege.
The son asked the investigating detective to go to his mother's home and take pictures of the conditions there.
"I went through the house and noticed that it was extremely cluttered and unkempt along with a lot of mouse droppings in the kitchen area and the oven door was broken," the detective noted, according to the charges.
Court documents list Fillmore's current residence as "unknown." An initial court appearance for Fillmore is scheduled for May 21.
