Edmonton woman charged in $200,000 fraud of seniors

An Edmonton woman isfacing charges after three older men lost $200,000 in bad loansbetween 2010 and 2012.

Wendy Curran,43, would meet the men, between the ages of 76 and 84, and befriend them before making emotional pleas for a loan which she promised would bequickly repaid, said police.

Curranapproached each of the men inthe Mill Woods Town Centre parking lot, telling them a hard-luck story and striking up a friendship that lasted about a year.

Police said she took nearly $170,000 from one man and up to $90,000 from another.

InitiallyCurran asked for a small amount of cash, said acting Staff Sgt. Jared Buhler.

"She was successful in taking it a step further, and then a step further and a step further, until they believed that they were her friend and that they were helping her.

"Ithink she was targetting a lot of people and these were the big fish, so to speak, that she was really able to reel in."

The friendships between Curran and her victims were not romantic or sexual in nature, police said.

The meneventuallyreported the fraud to their families, who called police.

The losses significantly affected the men financially, police said.

Curran is charge with two counts of fraud over $5,000andone count of fraud under $5,000.

She is scheduled to appear in court next Friday.

The case is typical of most involvingelder abuse investigated by police.

Of 236 investigations into elder abuse by the Edmonton police'sElder Abuse Intervention team,75 per cent are financial, said acting Insp. Sean Armstrong.