The biglyest lies

Is there any evidence the money was used inappropriately or stolen? How was she paying her living expenses? How confident are you that she shouldn’t have needed the cash just to live?

It sounds like maybe you have more context to the situation, but I just want to say that cash-out refinancing on its own isn’t necessarily predatory or malicious.

So you see the issue and have a workaround. Good! But that doesn’t mean that, as you said, “it’s not the cables that are the issue.” Why throw them away if they’re not an issue?