Hamilton County woman indicted on multiple charges for allegedly defrauding an elderly victim

Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers announced the indictment of Brenda Cowden, 55, for multiple charges involving allegedly defrauding an elderly victim.

Cowden was indicted on three counts of theft from a person in a protected class (F1), two counts of telecommunications fraud (F1 and F4), two counts of forgery (F2), one count of unauthorized use of property (F2), one count of attempt (F2) and one count of identity fraud against a person in a protected class (F1). If convicted of all charges, Cowden faces a maximum possible sentence of 61 years in prison.

Brenda Cowden was an employee of a senior service provider who was responsible for placing seniors into care facilities. The victim (age 79) lived alone with no family or close friends. The victim had multiple accounts at local banks. When the victim could no longer safely live at her home, Cowden was assigned as a caseworker to aid the victim in finding placement. During this time, Cowden allegedly  used her position to “befriend” the victim with a goal of obtaining access to her money.

In February of 2023, Cowden allegedly convinced the victim, who was hospitalized at the time, to sign a Power of Attorney (POA) that gave Cowden control over the victim’s finances as well as the right to be paid a fee for her services. No witnesses were allegedly present for this signing, but witness signatures were allegedly fraudulently added to the POA after the fact. 

Within days of obtaining the POA, Cowden allegedly proceeded to access the victim’s accounts and modify them to name herself as the “Payable on Death” beneficiary. Over the next months, Cowden allegedly moved large sums of money from an account at one bank to an account at a credit union. 

In October of 2023, Cowden allegedly named herself as a joint account holder on that credit union account. This alleged act gave her full access to all money owned by the victim, in violation of the scope of the POA.

In total, it is alleged that Cowden directly obtained $13,600 of the victim’s money directly and had control over more than $1 million dollars of the victim’s money before investigators at the credit union froze the accounts. Sharonville Police were then notified to conduct a full criminal investigation, which resulted in these charges. Were it not for these actions, Cowden would allegedly have been in position to receive the entirety of victim’s financial accounts upon her death.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers commented on the allegations: “It is unconscionable that someone would attempt to take advantage of a senior in this way. This defendant abused a position of trust and methodically engaged in activity with the goal of gaining control over every dollar this victim had. Were it not for the vigilance of investigators at GE Credit Union and the outstanding work of the Sharonville Police Department, this senior could have been left penniless.

“This case highlights why I launched our Elder Justice Unit last year. We are working hard to educate seniors about the dangers of scams and fraud schemes through our ‘Scam Stopper’ seminars and our ‘Scam Watch’ newsletter. Today, we are sending a clear message to everyone that this type of criminal activity will not be tolerated in Hamilton County. If you target our seniors, you should expect to spend a long time in prison.”

An indictment is merely a charge and is not evidence of guilt.

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