The Brown County grand jury handed indictments on Thursday, Nov 5 against two women accused of depriving money and items from several victims in a phony inheritance scam.
The indictments allege Shannin Donaldson, age 46, and Amanda Stevens, age 27, primarily targeted elderly/disabled persons in a series of scams in Brown County from around January 2013 to March 2015.
Investigators have identified at least four separate victims of the mother-daughter duo.
In one case, Donaldson and Stevens are accused of bilking up to $400,000 in cash and items from a man on Delhi-Arnheim Rd in Franklin Township.
Between November 2014 and February 2015 the two were employed as his caregivers, and had told him that Donaldson is expecting a large inheritance. Donaldson promised the man that if he would help them pay for fees and other expenses to settle the probate estate, she would pay him from her portion of the inheritance.
Eventually after the two kept asking for more money and making excuses on why the case has still not been settled, the man went to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators were able to determine the probate estate did not exist and the individuals supposedly giving Donaldson the inheritance were in fact still alive.
As a result of the investigation, Shannin Donaldson and Amanda Stevens have been indicted on one count of second-degree felony theft from a person in a protected class, two counts of third-degree felony theft from a person in a protected class, and one count of fourth-degree felony grand theft.
Both suspects remain at large at this time.
Brown County Crime Reporter 