Of course, an elderly person is a pity, I think there are pitfalls in this story, maybe a grandson or a son did this and the grandmother took the blame. And it is not clear how she stole electricity from the state, the article does not describe.
that actually does make sense, I mean it could be that grandma took the blame for someone else just as you said since it's just by nature for the parents to protect their child if we are talking maybe it's that grandma's relative or simply her family.
However as the family has reimbursed the funds I guess it will be fine, but im pretty sure the police will still be looking after that grandma lol.