Woman accused of selling $30,000 worth of art belonging to legally blind man

A legally blind man's caretaker is accused of selling more than $30,000 worth artwork belonging to him, then attempting to bribe him after he asked for the works' safe return, a Broward Sheriff's Office report said.

Maureen Stuteville, 46, was charged with exploitation of a disabled elderly adult and ordered held on a $10,000 bond during her first-appearance court hearing Wednesday.

Sometime between Dec. 1 and Dec. 12, Gilbert Jackson, 67, discovered that his Victor Vasarely painting was missing from the living room of his Dania Beach home, authorities said.
Jackson described the painting as an optical illusion of squares and a sphere, which had an estimated value of $30,000 to $35,000.

According to the report, when Jackson asked Stuteville where his painting was, she said the artwork was "somewhere in Boca," and later said it was in an art gallery.

Stuteville then allegedly said she would give Jackson his artwork back if he gave her $3,000 and a car, the report said. Jackson then sought help from friends who found an invoice to an antiques gallery in Dania Beach that led authorities to the place where Stuteville had sold Jackson's items, BSO said.

The gallery owner told detectives that Stuteville was a "regular" and came weekly to sell items. Stuteville told the gallery owner that she needed the money to place her father in a retirement home and for medical treatment of her mouth cancer, the report said.

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Woman accused of selling $30,000 worth of art belonging to legally blind man