Florida man steals identity of Texas coma patient to take out loans for multiple vehicles

A Daytona Beach resident was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week for stealing the identity of a comatose Texas man in order to take out several financial loans. Florida's State Attorney’s Office revealed on Monday that in 2021, Donald Wood, 40, had used the identity of a coma patient to secure loans for several vehicles.

“Furthermore, he hacked into our victim’s bank account and tried to refinance his own house with this information he fraudulently obtained,” a release issued by the SAO read. Authorities began looking into the case in 2022 and reached out to the victim's family to verify the transactions, reported CBS affiliate WKMG-TV . Investigators later reported that family members of the victim had found themselves locked out of their bank accounts and had received bills from "numerous financial institutions."

Investigators also reported that the family had received a phony hospital bill totaling $3,000. The release also stated that: “Additionally, Wood and his accomplices applied for credit under the victim’s name in the amount of $75,000." Investigators were later able to track most of the transactions back to Wood who has reportedly done this to several victims across the U.S.

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In April 2022, law enforcement officers were able to apprehend Wood and arrest him. Since the arrest, investigators have managed to open several additional cases against Wood and his henchmen. Wood was brought before a judge last week where he pled guilty to 21 felony charges.

Wood currently faces 14 counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information of a specified individual, Three counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information, two counts of tampering in felony second-degree proceeding, one count of organized scheme to defraud over $50,000 and one could of Mortgage fraud. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Within their release, the State Attorney's Office revealed that one of their agents, identified as Diego Besse, personally called all the companies harassing the family and explained the situation. “(Besse) has written letters and personally called numerous credit card companies, bank entities, car dealerships and insurance companies to provide proof to ensure the family’s fraudulent financial liabilities were removed and their assets and credit reinstated,” officials with the SAO said.

Another Florida resident also felt the sting of justice when she was nabbed by police for stealing $30,000 from her own grandmother . The woman has since been sent to prison for three years and will be forced to pay back the money that she stole. A press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's office in the Southern District of Illinois stated that Tanya M. Aboseada, 39, had convinced her grandmother to part with the funds after lying to her about various legal and other troubles on at least 12 occasions between November 2021 and August 2022.

The release said that Aboseada stole around $317,049. The special agent in charge of the case slammed the woman's behavior toward her family member.“The fraud perpetrated by Tanya Aboseada relied on the love and devotion of a family member, which is in many ways more heartless than when the perpetrator is a stranger," Christopher Johnson, FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge, said per the release. “The FBI upholds an unwavering commitment to deliver justice to victims of elder fraud, and to prioritize the pursuit of those who deliberately target vulnerable seniors.”