Palatine woman accused of stealing $200K from grandmother

A Palatine woman has been charged with stealing more than $200,000 from her grandmother.

Jennifer Curtis, 43, was arrested Wednesday. Bail was set at $100,000, and she is being held in the Cook County jail. Her next court hearing is Oct. 29.

She is charged with forgery and financial exploitation of an elderly person, both felonies.

The Cook County sheriff’s financial crimes and senior exploitation unit investigated a complaint from other relatives of the victim, a 98-year-old who lives in Indian Head Park.

The sheriff’s office said, in a news release, that Curtis had her grandmother’s power of attorney from October 2005 to July 2011. Authorities allege that Curtis wrote checks, made electronic payments and forged electronic wire transfers from her grandmother’s accounts to pay for Curtis’ credit cards, loans, vacations and other personal spending.

Curtis would intercept bank and credit card statements before the grandmother could see them, authorities said. The statements showed charges for trips to the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, and cities throughout the United States, the sheriff’s office reported. There were also charges for restaurants, clothing, food, gasoline and car payments, police said.