WEST JORDAN — A West Jordan woman is accused of financially exploiting her stepfather, who has dementia.
Mariah Jane Videto, 20, is charged in 3rd District Court with financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and unlawful use of a financial transaction card, both second-degree felonies.
West Jordan police were investigating a report of fraud by Destiny Hobbs, who has power of attorney for her brother-in-law John Franklin, who suffers from dementia. Franklin is on a fixed income and lives in a housing facility.
In July, Hobbs said she received notice from the housing facility that it had not received payments since March, despite automatic payments being set up. Hobbs contacted the bank and learned there was no money left in Franklin’s account, and there were multiple unauthorized transactions on his account since February, charges state.
Hobbs then contacted Franklin’s stepdaughter, Videto, who lived near where the transactions had occurred. Videto admitted to using the money from Franklin’s account via Apple Pay, charges state.
Police said Videto took a total of $6,866.82 from Franklin’s account. Franklin’s housing was not paid for in March or April, totaling $6,576 of unpaid bills, according to the charges.
“Mariah admitted to law enforcement that she began using the account in February 2024 after Mr. Franklin was diagnosed with dementia,” the charges state.
