MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio — Earlier this year, Marilyn Glauner spoke to News 5 after she was swindled out of $100,000.
“This crime has affected her well being tremendously,” said her son Gregory Glauner. “I would rather no one ever have to go through that again."
She told her story to help other senior citizens avoid falling for elaborate schemes and losing their life savings.
RELATED:Elderly Medina County woman swindled out of $100K; hopes sharing her story helps others
“There was always a little voice in my head that said don’t do this,” said Marilyn Glauner.
But the person on the other end of the phone convinced her that she had won $8 million and a car from Publisher’s Clearing House.
It started with a phone call and ended with the then 81-year-old sending three cashier’s checks totaling $100,000 plus $3,000 in gift cards.
Her children discovered money missing, and her son Gregory, who is the Brunswick Fire Chief, knew he had to act fast and called the police.
Officer Matthew O’Donnell responded and was able to help her.
“This could happen to anybody,” said O’Donnell.
At the same time, calls were being made to other law enforcement and the Medina County Prosecutor’s Scam Squad.
“We have connections with every law enforcement agency, contact individuals everyone from the FBI to Homeland Security to ICE to the Postmaster effectively all federal, all state and all local agencies,” said Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson.
Once O’Donnell discovered the checks were sent by UPS, police caught a break.
O’Donnell had a contact.
“I was able to get ahold of him because he works at UPS, he was able to intercept the packages at the Cleveland airport,” he said.
Two checks were stopped, but a $20,000 check had been cashed in Queens, New York, according to police.
“I reached out to the bank and then with a search warrant we got bank records for the account the check was deposited into,” said Medina Township Detective Mike Oyler.
According to Oyler, $10,000 was already gone.
Police said they tracked the money sent from Medina County to Queens and then to Jamacia.
Oyler said they tracked down 37-year-old Raldane Cunningham, who police said is responsible for the crime.
“I also had video from the bank of him depositing the check. I contacted the FBI office in New York to go out and interview this subject, they positively identified that’s who he was,” said Oyler.
Cunningham was indicted on two felonies and was arraigned in Medina County Court last week.
The Glauner family is hoping that justice will be served and no other senior citizen will lose hard-earned cash.
“I’m hoping through her actions of coming forward that someone else will not suffer the same fate,” said Gregory Glauner.
Her family is now focusing on helping her recover.
Police stress time is of the essence in cases like this one.
Officials urge anyone who thinks they might be a victim of a scam to tell someone immediately.
Many counties have Scam Squads to help victims of these types of crimes.
