The suspects are accused of depriving a Teresa Oakes' 87-year old mother and her late husband of their life savings over the last six years.
The investigation began on Jan. 28 when Teresa Oakes' mother discovered she was defrauded of her funds by her daughter and son-in-law whom she had trusted and called the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, deputies said.
Financial Crimes Detective Henry Miller was assigned the case a few days later, and his lengthy investigation revealed that the suspects' had stolen all of the victims' assets and continued to exploit them once they had secured Power of Attorney, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The funds the couple is accused of stealing are over $282,000, along with another $150,000 of property value since July 2008.
Deputies said the suspects convinced the victims to jointly purchase a home with a guest house in Florida and move from New Jersey in 2008. The victims paid cash for their half while the suspects mortgaged the rest, deputies said.
They said the suspects also convinced the victims to withhold their name from the deed to avoid probate upon their death, and promised they could live at the home for the rest of their lives.
The suspects also convinced the victims to cash out all of their investments between 2009 and 2013 and entrust the funds with them to allegedly invest in a higher rate of return, deputies said.
At the time, the victims were unaware that the suspects were depositing the funds in their personal bank accounts and using those funds for their personal gain, deputies said. They said the suspects also convinced the victims to open a joint bank account with them and name them (the suspects) as Power of Attorney.
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Deputies: Couple Sought After Defrauding 80-Year-Old Woman, Late Husband
3 comments:
Like the reports say, family does a lot of this, and it's hard to find and stop, unless the banks do their reporting.
And penalties need to be really tough to discourage preying on the elderly.
Most family - - adult children are honest and acting in good faith yet they do not get any press or publicity but when a low life like Teresa Oakes and her partner in crime Robert Oakes are discovered to be crooks and liars well now it's public as it should be HOWEVER let's give just credit to the majority who are taking care of family properly.
Fairness in reporting must be adhered to.
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