I know that's a strange question, and I'm thinking it's not criminal per se, but I'm wondering if anyone has ever had a situation like this. My parents (late 60's) are in the process of getting divorced. My father has blown ALL of their money, supposedly including all 401Ks, etc. and the house my mother is living in is in danger of being foreclosed because she allowed him to use it (it was inherited from her parents) as collateral and he isn't paying the loan. He claims not to be working (lives with his gf) but we know he has been under the table.
ANYWAY....he has significant debt and defaults, and will likely be declaring bankruptcy in the next year. My mom is NOT on his credit cards, and creditors have pretty much quit calling her, as she has passed his new number and address on to them.
Today she got a phone call from a debt collector on my dad's $16K credit card bill to "confirm the details" of a payment she supposedly called them yesterday and promised to make. A woman called the collector, identified herself as my mom and said she was cashing out a 401K and would be overnighting payment for the full balance. My mom explained she had never made that call and certainly didn't have the funds (or inclination) to pay my dad's debt. She called my father and he admitted he had his gf call in to the agency, identify herself as my mother, and make the other statements, but claims that they lied to the agency about the intended payment, and that they were only getting the balance for the bk paperwork.
Now we are skeptical about his explanation because a) there's no reason he shouldn't know how much he owes, as bill collectors contact him day and night, and b) even if he DID need the info, it would be completely out of date by the time he files, because he is waiting to file 'til after the divorce is final, which won't be for months.
My husband and brother both immediately asked if this was criminal on the part of my dad and his gf. Mom tried to contact her lawyer, but had to leave a message, so I just thought I'd pop in here and see if anyone here had any thoughts, since you've all been so helpful to us in the past.
ANYWAY....he has significant debt and defaults, and will likely be declaring bankruptcy in the next year. My mom is NOT on his credit cards, and creditors have pretty much quit calling her, as she has passed his new number and address on to them.
Today she got a phone call from a debt collector on my dad's $16K credit card bill to "confirm the details" of a payment she supposedly called them yesterday and promised to make. A woman called the collector, identified herself as my mom and said she was cashing out a 401K and would be overnighting payment for the full balance. My mom explained she had never made that call and certainly didn't have the funds (or inclination) to pay my dad's debt. She called my father and he admitted he had his gf call in to the agency, identify herself as my mother, and make the other statements, but claims that they lied to the agency about the intended payment, and that they were only getting the balance for the bk paperwork.
Now we are skeptical about his explanation because a) there's no reason he shouldn't know how much he owes, as bill collectors contact him day and night, and b) even if he DID need the info, it would be completely out of date by the time he files, because he is waiting to file 'til after the divorce is final, which won't be for months.
My husband and brother both immediately asked if this was criminal on the part of my dad and his gf. Mom tried to contact her lawyer, but had to leave a message, so I just thought I'd pop in here and see if anyone here had any thoughts, since you've all been so helpful to us in the past.
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