Daughter accused of helping to exploit parents

STUART, Fla. —A Martin County woman who is accused of scamming her parents is behind bars facing elderly exploitation charges.

Sgt. Yesenia Carde of the Martin County Sheriff's office said the victims are financially cleaned out.
"They had enough, they had enough," Carde said.

Over a period of a year, the elderly male victim in the case would head to a local grocery store on Kanner Highway in Martin County and use the ATM to withdraw money, according to an arrest affidavit. The victim would give the money to a courier.

But he would later learn it was all a scam.

The victim's daughter admitted to using a courier scam to trick her parents into paying the defendants $30,000 to $40,000 over the last nine to 10 months, reportedly to feed her drug habit, according to the sheriff's office.

"This couple, they were approached by the daughter and they cared for her, they love her and they wanted to take care of her but she embezzled quite a bit of money with the other co-defendants from them," Carde said.

When the money ran out, two of the defendants thought the couple and their daughter needed motivation, so they would continue paying, according to documents.

They reportedly kidnapped the three, drove them to a wooded area near western Palm Beach County and made them get on their knees. Then they allegedly threatened to "shoot them in the water and let the gators eat them," authorities said.

The three were returned to their home, and days later the elderly couple contacted the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

"Right now their main concern is fear of retaliation, obviously, hence why they won't come forward to speak to anybody else at this time. I can tell you that they were even having a hard time just getting food," Carde said.

There are four defendants in the case. They are the elderly victims’ daughter, Nicolas Reeds, Kenneth Ellershaw and Eric Fredericks.

All four face elderly exploitation charges.

Reeds and Ellershaw also face kidnapping charges.

The couple lost about $189,000 within a year, authorities said.

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Daughter accused of helping to exploit parents