'AITA for not wanting to give my SIL money even if it means she 'goes to prison for years'?'

"AITA for not wanting to give my SIL more money even if it means she 'goes to prison for years'?"

In the middle of the night last night my (29f) husband (30m) got a text from his half sister (50f) asking us to loan her $1000 for her to pay a fine before tomorrow. My husband called her this morning to make sure it was really her asking for the money and that she didn’t have her phone stolen or anything crazy.

It was really her but when he pressed her for more information she said she couldn’t tell him any more because “the FBI is involved” and she needs to pay this money to an attorney to clear her name before she can say anything else.

Husband ended up sending her the money despite my reservations because he said she’s never asked for anything from us before and she’s never lied to him that he knows of. She claims she will be able to pay us back later next week.

This afternoon she texts him again, freaking out and saying “they” added an additional $300 late fee that she also can’t pay. We figure she could ask someone else and don’t want to send her more because the first payment was really stretching it for us.

I am a SAHM with our baby (1f) My husband’s full time job has been incredibly slow lately and we have several animals that we have to care for so money has been extremely tight lately. It was a miracle we even had enough this week to loan her that much money and still pay for groceries/diapers this week. An additional $300 would be cutting into what we need for basic necessities at this point.

My husband asked her how much trouble she’d be in if she doesn’t pay before tomorrow and if there’s possible jail time involved. She said she could be facing years of jail time if she doesn’t pay.

We suggested she reach out to one of their other brothers who she is close with and who is doing well financially but she said my husband is the only one SIL is okay with knowing about this situation because of how crazy it is.

If I was facing years of incarceration, I wouldn’t be worried about people knowing my situation if they could help. Now my husband is questioning if he did the right thing giving her any money in the first place and if he did the right thing saying we couldn’t send more.

I’m angry that he sent the first $1000 because I don’t believe her. Is this some kind of weird test? Mental breakdown? What kind of situation would the FBI be involved but there’s no public record that I can find of anything happening?

Husband is questioning her but he loves his sister and thinks I am being an AH for being so skeptical of her and angry that he sent any money at all. I am pretty pissed off that money was sent without my explicit “yes” to that decision and I am very against sending more. AITAH?

For added context: SIL recently separated from her husband (who I personally like more than her) because of “reasons she can’t say” until she’s officially divorced. SIL is extremely enmeshed with my husband and says he’s her favorite baby brother. She plans on giving him the old family farm where their ancestors originally settled in another state that her family currently owns.

She also seems to think she will be coming to our state to live with us and have us take care of her when she’s old, which I am definitely not on board with. She doesn’t have any issues with drugs or alcohol, the only thing we can think of is a possible gambling debt but that is a pretty big stretch.

I also don’t have the best relationship with her for the following reasons: -She’s constantly trauma dumping on my husband to the point where he puts off her calls and texts for months -She always has some crazy sob story going on in her life so she’s perpetually a victim -She refuses to go to therapy despite having such a supposedly traumatic life

-When I first started dating my husband she said she wanted to talk to me to see if I was “good enough” for her baby brother (newsflash: no one is good enough for him in her eyes which she let me know)

-We’ve only met in person twice and the first time we met she was really cold towards me but the next day she was crying and apologized to me because apparently I was “not at all a total bitch” because an ex family member (Husbands brothers ex wife) and told her I was talking bad about her when I hadn’t even spoken to her or met her before so SIL had preemptively decided to hate me.

We are friendly and have talked a few times through the years but TBH I don’t really care about her situation when I have a family that needs every penny right now.

This is what people had to say to OP:

Key-Phone-3648 said:

Gonna echo that this sounds like a scam. She could have a public lawyer if she can't afford it, and $300 dollars does not mean the difference between freedom and immediate imprisonment.

ProfessorDistinct835 said:

NTA. "FBI is involved" means she's likely being scammed by someone online who has convinced her that if she doesn't pay X amount she will go to jail or something.

Call her up and get some details.

slaemerstrakur said:

You’re being lied to. Don’t give the $300 because you’re not getting the $1,000 back let alone the $300 on top of it. Write down the stories because you’ve paid for them.

K_A_irony said:

LOL there is no world in which a crime with the FBI involved is fixed with $1300. She is either being scammed or is scamming your husband.