Melissa Fireside Faces 19 New Fraud Charges as Oregon Says She May Have Fled Abroad
Updated
Updated · Fox 12 Oregon · Jun 26
Melissa Fireside Faces 19 New Fraud Charges as Oregon Says She May Have Fled Abroad
3 articles · Updated · Fox 12 Oregon · Jun 26
Summary
A Clackamas County grand jury on June 25 added 19 charges against former commissioner Melissa Fireside, accusing her of identity theft, forgery and theft in a case tied to an 83-year-old man.
Prosecutors say Fireside used the man’s identity from March 2021 to August 2025 to open credit cards, obtain loans and secure a PPP loan, with purchases totaling up to $10,000.
Court records allege she accessed his accounts during a visit to his assisted living facility, then withdrew $29,000 to repay a loan to state Rep. April Dobson and moved another $1,000 into her own account.
Authorities still do not know where Fireside is; an active arrest warrant remains, and investigators say she may have used fake documents to cross into Mexico before booking travel to Amsterdam on an Austrian passport.
The case had already produced charges in February 2025 and led to Fireside’s resignation in March 2025, underscoring the widening legal fallout for the Democrat elected in November 2024.