Austin, TX – Thieves have drained the personal bank account of the United States’ oldest living World War II veteran.
Richard Overton’s family was dismayed when they discovered that somebody had used the 112-year-old man’s bank account to purchase savings bonds with Treasury Direct over a period of several months, KXAN reported.
Richard’s cousin, Volma Overton Jr., said he first discovered something was off about the account when he went to make a deposit for the supercentenarian. So he went to the bank to figure out what the problem was, KXAN reported.
He said he found out the only money left in Richard’s account was the deposit that he had just made.
"I looked at it — what the hell are these debits?" was his first reaction, Volma told the Austin American-Statesmen.
He said the bank has been very helpful, and that he’s also sent a letter to Treasury Direct; however, the family has not notified police, KXAN reported.
It’s not difficult to find out lots of information about Richard, including his birthdate, online. The entire city celebrated the local legend’s birthday with a block party in March, according to the Austin-American Statesman. But they don’t know how the thieves got ahold of his Social Security number.
"We wanted to put word out about them using his name with stolen ID," Volma told KXAN. "It might help others realize how vulnerable we all are to this."
He wouldn’t specify how much money was stolen from the World War II veteran’s account, but said it was a “considerable amount.”
Fortunately, the account that was raided was Richard’s personal checking account, and not the bank account used for money that has been generously donated to assist with his round-the-clock. That GoFundMe has raised more than $300,000 to assist with his $480-per-day, nearly $15,000-a-month care expenses, KXAN reported.
