Longtime Lake Forest resident and financial advisor James P. Richter was found
guilty of Attempted Financial Exploitation of the Elderly on April 4 by the Lake
County Circuit Court. According to public records, the Class A misdemeanor
carries a sentence of 12 months conditional discharge including 100 hours of
community service and a $500 contribution to a charity. He’s also required to
avoid all contact with the two senior citizens at the center of the case.
They’re a married couple in their late-70s/early-80s who have lived in Lake
Forest for 45 years and, they said, had been clients of Richter’s since 1993.
They spoke with GazeboNews on the condition of anonymity to raise awareness of
the issue of exploitation of the elderly. GazeboNews called and emailed Richter
and his attorney several times but were unable to get a comment from them.
The story of People vs. James P. Richter began in February 2010, when,
according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Scheller, Richter
asked the couple for a $45,000 loan, which they gave him. Approximately one year
later, he said, Richter asked for a second loan, this time in the amount of
$15,000, which the couple also gave him. Scheller said that in both cases,
Richter signed promissory notes.
In the fall of 2011, the couple contacted the Lake County State’s Attorney’s
Office, which opened an investigation and eventually reached an agreement with
Richter and his attorney, in which Richter pleaded to a misdemeanor if he paid
the couple back in full, which he did, according to Scheller. He said that the
amount of money involved would have warranted a felony charge if the money had
not been repaid.
“Obviously, we want to charge the offender, but if we can get the victims’
money back, it doesn’t do us any good to throw the offender in jail for three
years and not get a cent,” said Scheller. “This is a conviction on his record
that won’t be expunged or go away. We’re happy we got the victims their money
back, and we’re happy we got the conviction.”
Full Article and Source:
Lake Forest Financial Advisor Found Guilty of Attempted Financial Exploitation of the Elderly
2 comments:
Who's watching these guys?
Don't they belong to some kind of
association which should be looking to keep its image clean?
We need to be wary of financial advisors.
Post a Comment