Childrens grief book author and alleged murderer Kouri Richins slapped with 26 new charges

Children’s author Kouri Richins — who wrote a popular book about dealing with grief after allegedly killing her husband — was slapped with over two dozen new charges involving financial schemes linked to his death.Summit County prosecutors announced on Friday that Richins, 33, allegedly took out massive high-interest loans, forged documents, and shifted money through shell businesses in the months before her husband, Eric Richins, died from being poisoned in 2022.They claim investigators found the mom-of-three used a power of attorney to obtain a $250,000 home equity line of credit on Eric’s premarital home without him knowing.She is then suspected of funneling that money into her real estate business, K.Richins Realty.Eric learned about the secret line of credit in October 2020, which prosecutors allege was a “source of tension” between the couple. After the discovery, Eric met with a divorce lawyer and an estate planning lawyer to protect himself and his children from any abuse and misuse of his finances.However, the mom-of-three assured him that she would repay the loan, but it had not been repaid by the time of his death.“The Defendant informed Eric Richins that she would repay the loan and led Eric Richins to believe that she had repaid it.

The HELOC was not paid off on the day of Eric Richins’ death,” the filing states.The charging documents also allege that Richins borrowed millions more through hard money loans as her business was already defaulting on existing debts and burning through cash.“By that day, she had already defaulted on one loan and was delinquent on several others.She continued efforts to borrow from new high-interest lenders to meet her existing obligations,” court documents state.“By the end of 2021, the Defendant stood on the precipice of total financial collapse.”Prosecutors said in December 2021, Richins was so deep in debt that she agreed to buy an unfinished $2.9 million mansion and was scheduled to close ...