Teen Rats Out Her Free-Spending Granny

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Thomas Northcut / Getty

Apparently, blood may be thicker than water, but it certainly isn’t thicker than airtime.

That family fact was made obvious by a Queens, N.Y., woman who allegedly ran up more than $6,000 in Amazon.com purchases using money meant for public school students on herself, but was ratted out by her 14-year-old granddaughter, who was upset when the woman stopped paying for her cellphone.

Debbie Rizzo, an ex-secretary at Middle College High School, is accused of spending the money on items ranging from ceiling fans to a pink iPod docking station, before she was laid off due to budget cuts last year, the New York Daily News reported. She told investigators that it was “accidental” and “a mistake in judgment.” No criminal charges have been filed against Rizzo, but school officials say they have nixed her from ever working for the system again.

“It’s none of your business,” she snapped at Daily News reporters who showed up outside her home. “I don’t want to talk about it.” But Rizzo’s daughter said school officials forced the granddaughter to snitch, accusing them of taking advantage of her.

For her part, though, the granddaughter, whose name was withheld, called Rizzo a “compulsive liar” and said they no longer speak.