For four years, Frances assumed the monthly $1,500 transfer from her husband Mason was a routine car payment. Then his brother Albert arrived unannounced and told her the car had never required a loan — and that $72,000 in payments had gone somewhere no one had explained.
A routine explanation repeated for 48 months
Every month for four years, Mason transferred $1,500 to the same account and offered Frances the same reassurance: “Another car payment done, Frances. We’re almost finished.” The amount seemed plausible for the car he drove, and Frances had no reason to doubt him.

