Green Bay woman accused of stealing over $10K from person she was the guardian of back in court

WEDNESDAY, 05/22/2024, 9:00 p.m.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – The Green Bay woman accused of stealing over $10,000 from a person she was the legal guardian for was back in court on Monday.

Court records show that 61-year-old Tamara Sandoval appeared at the Brown County Courthouse on May 20 for a status conference.

Sandoval was supposed to have a plea hearing on Monday, but it has been moved back to September 10 at 11:00 a.m.

Green Bay woman accused of stealing from person she was the guardian for has plea hearing set

Monday, 01/05/2024, 8:30 a.m.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – The Green Bay woman accused of stealing over $10,000 from a person she was the guardian for was back in Brown County Court on January 29, 2023, for a status conference.

Court records show that 61-year-old Tamara Sandoval appeared with an attorney, where the court set her plea hearing for May 20, 2024, at 1:30 p.m.

No additional details were provided.

Green Bay woman charged with stealing over $10k from person she was the guardian for

FRIDAY, 09/23/2022, 3:00 p.m.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – A woman from Green Bay is facing multiple charges after getting arrested for allegedly stealing tens of thousands from someone she was the guardian for.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by Local 5, 60-year-old Tamara Sandoval is facing two charges related to stealing money from a person she was the guardian of. Back in July, authorities met with the complainant who said that the victim has had a guardian since 1996 and was possibly getting defrauded.

The complainant said the victim recently got a new guardian, who was there with authorities, and while reviewing bank accounts there were some ‘suspicious’ transactions. The new guardian said there was a transaction of $1,000 from the alleged victim’s account to a different account that ended up being Sandoval’s.

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Sandoval was the previous guardian for the victim and said that she would transfer money because there were times when she would have to pay for the victim because she forgot his money or debit card.

The new guardian also asked about ‘multiple’ restaurant charges that were abnormally high for a one-person bill. Sandoval said that sometimes the client would ‘treat’ her and her other client that resides at the residence. It was also mentioned that sometimes they would take turns paying when they would go out to eat.

The new guardian told authorities that the victim should be allotted $100 a month in spending cash. Sandoval was allegedly only allowing him $5 a week because of ‘behavioral issues’. The new guardian decided to look back further at the victim’s banking history.

From July 2020 until March 2022, the new guardian added up the believed ‘suspicious’ transactions and provided the following estimated findings:

  • $6,240 from the victim’s account to Sandoval’s

  • $1,300 in ATM withdrawals

  • $867 in restaurant charges

  • $550 at various gas stations

  • $5,300 at grocery stores/convenience stores

Over the last two years, the new guardian totaled over $25,000 in suspicious activity. The victim does not have access to his checking account without the authorization of his guardian, which was Sandoval at the time. The victim reportedly does not have a debit/ATM card.

Authorities observed multiple issues when looking at financial information from October 26, 2015, to July 12, 2022.

  • There were withdrawals totaling $27,285 on 114 separate occasions from the victim’s checking and savings accounts to Sandoval’s account.

  • There were deposits totaling $2,086.62 on 12 separate occasions from Sandoval’s account to the victim’s account.

  • There was $2,675.55 in grocery store purchases on 11 separate occasions.

  • There was $1,019.99 in restaurant purchases on 11 separate occasions

  • There was 625.79 in gas station purchases on 11 separate occasions

  • There were 158.24 Starbucks purchases on seven separate occasions

  • On May 22, 2021, the victim paid an HVAC company $115

    • The complaint says that any repair to the home’s heating and/or cooling systems would be paid for by the owner of the residence, who was Sandoval. She was also already being paid by a company to house the victim.

  • On August 13, 2021, the victim paid a car dealership $140.02

    • The victim does not own a vehicle and can not legally drive

On September 16 around 11:35 a.m., authorities sat down and spoke with Sandoval at L.I.F.E. Academy where she was working. She said she was the alleged victim’s guardian since he was 18.

Sandoval told authorities that before he had a debit card, she would pay for the victim’s purchases with her card and would then reimburse herself for the payments. It was later clarified that she did it when she didn’t have his debit card with her.

She also mentioned that if the victim’s account got too high, she would take money from his account and put it into her own account. Sandoval said the victim would have been ineligible for medical assistance if his assets were over $2,000.

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Sandoval said she kept some of the receipts, which were later found during a search warrant at her house.

When asked if she made any ATM withdrawals with the victim’s money she reportedly said, “No.” Even though the banking records showed 11 withdrawals since 2020 for a total of $2,642.50.

Sandoval asked authorities how they knew she was not spending the money on the victim. To which authorities responded that the numbers did not add up.

When asked about the buying of fuel, she said, “I used his debit card for fuel?”

Sandoval said that some transactions could have been mistakes because the cards look ‘exactly alike’. Authorities asked if there were any financial issues and told her she was simply taking money from someone she was caring for.

She then said, “I think I wanna be done talking right now.” Sandoval said she felt ‘very attacked’ and ‘put on the spot’. “Brown County in general right now is not my friend,” was also brought up by Sandoval.

“I think I want to get an attorney,” was also said by Sandoval.

Authorities then arrested her and transported her to the Brown County Jail.

L.I.F.E. Academy said that allegations against Sandoval have nothing to do with the Agency of L.I.F.E. Academy, and provided the following statement to Local 5:

L.I.F.E. Academy, LLC has no affiliation with Tamara Sandoval. There has been an immediate clear, complete, and permanent separation between Tamara Sandoval and the agency. Any accusations of wrongdoing have nothing to do with the practices, clients, employees or the Agency of L.I.F.E. Academy, LLC. The matter in question is in regard to personal business Tamara conducted outside of her ownership/employment at L.I.F.E. Academy, LLC.

L.I.F.E. Academy, LLC has never been involved in this situation in any capacity, their clients, employees, and the remaining business partner have had no involvement.

Statement provided to Local 5 by L.I.F.E. Academy

Sandoval is charged with the following:

  • Theft By Bailee

    • Felony

    • Up to six years in prison

    • Having possession of money of another, and transferring the money without the owner’s consent, contrary to the defendant’s authority, and with intent to convert said property to her own use.

  • Theft By Bailee

    • Felony

    • Up to ten years in prison

    • Having possession of money having a value greater than $10,000, of another, and transferring such money without the owner’s consent, contrary to the defendant’s authority and with intent to convert the property to her own use.

Court records show that Sandoval is scheduled to appear in court for her initial appearance on October 26. No additional information was provided.

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