Woman charged with defrauding Illinois couple

A Tennessee woman has been charged with defrauding an Illinois couple by selling their stocks and property and keeping the proceeds for herself.

A federal grand jury in Memphis charged 42-year-old Martha Marie Bizzell of Crump with fraud. Grand jurors allege that Bizzell became the appointed guardian of a husband and wife in Peoria County, Illinois and was in charge of ensuring their physical and financial well-being.

BIzzell moved to Tennessee after the appointment. The indictment says Bizzell then took the couple's $1.5 million net worth and sold it in pieces for $1,082,342 between November 2011 and July 2012 and kept the funds for herself.

Bizzell has been charged with three counts of mail fraud and 14 counts of wire fraud.

Court records did not list an attorney on Friday.