NJ Attorney General Announces Arrests In Major Elder Fraud Case

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a prominent Atlantic County attorney who specializes in elder law and the owner of an in-home senior care company were arrested on charges they conspired to prey on elderly clients and steal their life savings.  The two women allegedly stole over $2 million from at least 10 victims. The company owner’s sister and a former employee also are charged in the investigation by the State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice.

The following two women were arrested yesterday in the ongoing investigation. They are charged by complaint with first-degree money laundering, second-degree conspiracy and second-degree theft by deception for allegedly stealing from the victims, who lived in Atlantic and Cape May counties.

 Barbara Lieberman, 62, of Northfield, the attorney, was arrested at her home on Northwood Court.  Search warrants were executed there and at her law office on New Road in Northfield.  She was lodged in jail with bail set at $300,000.  The state froze approximately $5 million in assets Lieberman holds in various accounts, which it will seek to use for restitution.

·Jan Van Holt, 57, of Linwood, the owner of “A Better Choice,” a company that purportedly offered seniors “custom designed life care and legal financial planning,” was arrested at her home on West Vernon Avenue. She also was lodged in jail with bail set at $300,000.

Investigators previously filed charges of second-degree theft by deception against Van Holt’s sister, Sondra Steen, 58, of Linwood, who lives with her and helped her operate “A Better Choice,” and Susan Hamlett, 55, of Egg Harbor Township, who worked for them as an aid for elderly clients.

The defendants allegedly targeted elderly clients with substantial assets who typically did not have any immediate family, offering them non-medical care and assistance, including financial and legal services.  The defendants allegedly took control of the finances of their victims by forging a power of attorney or obtaining one on false pretenses.  The defendants then added their names to the victims’ bank accounts or transferred the victims’ funds into new accounts they controlled.  Thereafter, the defendants allegedly siphoned away the money to pay their own expenses, including, for Van Holt, two Mercedes cars, a Florida condo, pool supplies and veterinary bills for her pets.  Lieberman allegedly used stolen funds to pay off six-figure credit card bills.  In one case, the defendants allegedly put a reverse mortgage for $195,000 on a 94-year-old woman’s home.  That victim died in a nursing home because she could not afford to live in her home after her assets allegedly were stolen.  Lieberman and Van Holt also executed the wills of some of the victims and allegedly continued to steal from their estates after they died.

“These women allegedly preyed ruthlessly on elderly clients, most of whom were facing the end of life without family and with only their savings to ensure they would be cared for properly,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “We’re supposed to honor our elders, but these women heartlessly exploited them, allegedly stripping them of their life savings and their ability to live out their final days in comfort, peace and dignity. This is an ongoing investigation, and we urge any individuals who suspect that they or their loved ones may have had their assets stolen by these defendants to notify us.”

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NJ Attorney General Announces Arrests In Major Elder Fraud Case