Steve Lay was a middle-aged ticket scalper who hadn't held a regular job since the mid-1980s. His education stopped with high school, and he was once convicted of a felony, for lying on a loan application.
Dr. Edwin P. Scott, 31 years Lay's elder, practiced pediatric medicine for 54 years and earned a law degree at night at UofL.
He was a licensed real-estate broker as well as a physician and an attorney, and he was a savvy investor to boot: By the time Scott closed his St. Matthews office in 2000, at age 85, he had amassed a fortune worth $21million, mostly in blue-chip stocks.But after Scott's wife and only child died in the late 1990s, it was Lay who began treating him like family.
“We were buddies,” Lay said in an interview. “I took care of him night and day.”
But Scott's guardian and conservator contend that Lay's concern was a ruse to allow him to loot the retired pediatrician's fortune.
In a suit filed in Jefferson Circuit Court, they contend that from 2004 to 2007, Lay took advantage of an elderly man enfeebled by Alzheimer's disease to “loot” $15million from the doctor — and that a local office of Smith Barney, the brokerage firm, helped Lay get away with it.
The suit, filed in 2007 on behalf of Scott, who has been declared incompetent, outlines an epic spending spree in which Lay bought himself a $300,000 yacht, an $83,928 Dodge Viper and a $1.5million home near Glenview, and gave $1million to a friend in Chicago, $3 million to his son and a $37,000 Mercedes to his mother.
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Doctor, Later Diagnosed WIth Alzheimer's Let Friend Spend His Millions
It could go both ways. Scott may have been lonely and knew he had plenty of money and less time, so he might as well spend it. The "can't take it with you" idea.
ReplyDeleteOr, Lay could have seen an opportunity and took advantage of it.
One thing I do hope is that Scott had fun and companionship during that time, before his condition worsened. His 21 mil doesn't do him a bit of good with such a terrible disease.
I think Lay saw a vulnerable Scott needing companionship and took advantage of him.
ReplyDeleteThe guardian/conservator is interested in recovering the money so he/she can bill against it!
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying it's OK for Lay to have done what he did, but how much is the guardian charging Mr. Scott?
ReplyDeleteLet's get all the figures on the table and sort thru them!