Woman accused of stealing over $26K from funeral GoFundMe arrested in Maryland

ARLINGTON, Va. (DC News Now) — A woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars in funeral expenses from the GoFundMe of a relative has been arrested in Maryland after evading police for over a year, according to the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD).

On June 20, police said officers, with the help of the Landover Hills Police Department, arrested Yesenia Amaya, 33, on charges of obtaining money by false pretense, computer fraud and embezzlement in connection with the 2023 incident.

According to a wanted bulletin posted by ACPD in April, Amaya offered to create a GoFundMe to raise money for the funeral expenses and family of a distant relative after learning that they had unexpectedly died in Arlington in September 2023.

Following the campaign’s creation, “there was a significant community response,” raising over $26,000 for the family. However, police said Amaya withdrew the money from the account in November 2023 and used it for something else.

Three months later, in February 2024, police obtained warrants for Amaya’s arrest but were unable to find her until the department received a tip from the community, according to ACPD.

Officers from the Landover Hills Police Department arrested Amaya and extradited her to the Arlington County Detention facility, where she is being held without bond.

In response to the incident, GoFundMe sent the following statement to DC News Now:

“GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and those who seek to take advantage of the generosity of others. The GoFundMe Beneficiary Guarantee keeps donors protected and we worked directly with the intended beneficiary… to deliver the total amount raised to her. In the rare case of misuse, we take swift action. In this instance, the organizer account has been banned from using the platform for any future fundraisers and we are cooperating with law enforcement’s investigations into those accused of wrongdoing.” 

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