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| Lawrence Warfel |
Lawrence Warfel, 75, of Moberly was charged Thursday with
financial exploitation of an elder/disabled person, a class C felony.
Lawrence Warfel was withdrawing cash for nearly a year from his missing
wife’s Social Security debit card, according to a probable cause
statement made by Randolph County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Wilson.
Wilson
reported that he was contacted June 19 by Penny Warfel’s sister in
Columbus, Ohio, to report her sister missing. Penny Warfel was last seen
Sept. 15, 2017. At the time of Penny Warfel was entered as missing in
the Missouri State Highway Patrol database, she had not been seen in 9
months, according to the report.
Lawrence Warfel was the
last person in her family to see her, according to the report. Lawrence
Warfel told Wilson that Penny Warfel had left for Florida with a male
friend after the married couple got into an argument. Lawrence Warfel
said he had only spoken to Penny Warfel once since she left for Florida.
It has not been confirmed that she left Missouri.
Wilson
reported that Penny Warfel had been receiving an SSI disability check
from the federal government. According to the report, Wilson was put
into contact with a special agent with the U.S Inspector General’s
Office to assist with the investigation. The agent was named in the
statement as Special Agent J.F.
Penny Warfel was
reportedly the only person with access to her SSI account. Wilson
obainted records of Penny Warfel’s transaction history from July 2017 to
July 2018. From July to September of 2017, Wilson reported that
activity was consistent, including grocery expenses and bills paid
through the account.
At the end of September 2017,
however, Wilson reported that ordinary transactions on the account had
stopped and only ATM transactions had been made since. Further
investigation of video surveillance showed that Lawrence Warfel was
withdrawing money from the ATM at the Bank of Kirksville in Moberly and
the ATM connected to Academy Bank at the Moberly Walmart using Penny
Warfel’s SSI account.
The records show that Penny Warfel has been receiving $750
each month from SSI, and all of the money was being withdrawn from her
account each month by Lawrence Warfel. The total sum, as of the time of
the probable cause statement, was approximately $8,000.
Wilson
brought in Lawrence Warfel for questioning Wednesday. He reported that
Lawrence Warfel admitted to being in possession of Penny Warfel’s SSI
debit card and withdrew funds each month.
Special Agent
J.F. was present for Wilson’s interview with Lawrence Warfel. He
reportedly told Warfel that he was not allowed to withdraw money from
his wife’s account and use it for himself. Lawrence Warfel told the
investigators that his wife had told him to keep her money to pay her
medical bills of at the Moberly Regional Medical Center, according to
the report. Wilson told Lawrence Warfel that he had already checked with
MRMC and no payments had been made on Penny Warfel’s account in more
than a year.
Charges were filed against Lawrence Warfel
on Thursday by Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Fusselman. His
bond was set at $25,000, cash only and his arraignment is scheduled
Monday at 1:30 p.m.
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