Christine Cate (left) and her daughter, Karen Rader, talk about the sentencing of disbarred lawyer Larry Toomey. Toomey stole more than $960,000 from their elderly family member. By Michael Stavola
Larry Toomey, a disbarred Wichita attorney who stole more than
$960,000 from an elderly client with dementia and spent the money on
gambling, a Porsche and a Jaguar, asked a judge Friday during his
sentencing if he could continue to visit his former client.
Toomey visited the 104-year-old victim in her nursing home last week, according to court-appointed guardian Becca Hess.
Hess and two of the victim’s family members spoke
during Toomey’s sentencing hearing Friday in front of Sedgwick County
District Court Judge Eric Williams.
Toomey had already entered into a plea agreement that presumed probation
at the sentencing as well as Toomey losing his law license and
undergoing an evaluation for a “gambling addiction” — among other
things.
Hess asked Williams that Toomey not be allowed to visit the victim.
“Her dementia is to the point where she doesn’t even recognize her own family. So why would she recognize him,” Hess said.
Then, Toomey, who is in his 70s, had a chance to speak.
“The only thing I would do is ask the court
accept my apologies on behalf of anyone that’s been harmed,” Toomey
said. “I’ve known the (victim and her deceased husband) for over 25
years and they are certainly more than clients. And the extent that it
is appropriate, I’d like to continue to see (the victim) since I am the
only one on the outside that she recognizes.”
Williams denied Toomey’s request. He added to the
list of caveats in Toomey’s sentencing of 24 months of probation with
an underlying prison sentence of 26 months. The prison sentence would
only happen if Toomey violated his probation.
An arrest affidavit, obtained by The Eagle in an open records request, outlined Toomey’s theft from the victim:
In 1993, Toomey helped draft a trust for the victim. She was in charge of the trust and her husband was the successor.
The trust had been amended five times: one
amendment made Toomey the successor of managing the trust after the
victim’s husband died and then another in 2012 put Toomey in charge of
the trust.
The final amendment came a few days after the
change that put Toomey in charge. This one made Toomey a beneficiary for
25 percent of the trust. Three members of the victim’s family also
would receive 25 percent each.
Only one of the three family members was alive at
the time of the investigation and she was unaware of being a
beneficiary. The plea agreement stated Toomey’s claim to the trust
represented “at least” $330,000 and at least $660,000 if he outlived the
other beneficiary.
Family members said the victim had already been
battling dementia for a few years by the 2012 amendments. The victim has
been in a nursing home since at least 2011.
Toomey told investigators that a 2012 gift memo
allowed him to spend up to $550,000 out of the account. Defense attorney
Steven Mank argued that’s why Toomey didn’t take anything he wasn’t
entitled to take.
“There was a gift memo that was in dispute here,”
Mank told Judge Williams. “An independent attorney met with (the
victim) before that gift memo was drafted.”
An FBI accountant observed that transactions of
$773,323 from the trust between October 2011 to December 2014 “don’t
appear to be for the benefit of (the victim)” as required of a trustee
to do under state law.
Those transactions included $395,826 for
gambling, $104,357 to local car dealers for a Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and
Jaguar and rent for a family member.
The court document also noted that Toomey
deposited $127,952 back into the victim’s bank account shortly after
being interviewed by an FBI agent. The document stated Toomey took
$961,897, in all, from the victim between 2011 and 2018.
Williams’ ruling included that Toomey and his
family member have no future claim to the trust and waived any fees said
to be owed to Toomey. During the case, the state argued Toomey’s fees
were well beyond the scope of what was reasonable for his service.
Toomey has already been disbarred and underwent
an evaluation for his gambling, according to his attorney. Mank said the
evaluation found that Toomey would need counseling.
“You practiced law long enough to understand your
fiduciary duty that you owe to your clients,” Judge Williams said.
“It’s clear to this court from the records before us, hearing the
statements of counsel, the statements on behalf of the victim herself,
that your actions were for your benefits and not the interest of your
client, contrary to your fiduciary relationship.”
A niece and sister-in-law who drove up from Texas said they were happy with the ruling.
“I was anxious today but I am so glad we gave her a voice,” Karen Rader, the victim’s niece, told Sedgwick County Chief Attorney Robert Short after the sentencing.
Rader said her aunt lived with her husband in the
same house for 60 years. They both retired from Beechcraft and had no
children, she said.
Her aunt lived “very frugally,” Rader said. “But very giving.”
Rader said they’ve talked with legal counsel
about filing a civil lawsuit against Toomey. She said they would still
need to talk about it as a family before moving forward.
Short would not discuss the case, but said that elder abuse is a growing problem.
“We have seen a steady increase year by year in
elder abuse cases referred to the office,” Short wrote to The Eagle in
an email. “Most of the abuse is in the financial arena and involves
suspects who are close to the victims, such as family members and
caregivers who have gained access to the elder person’s personal
financial information.”
Full Article & Source:
Wichita lawyer who stole more than $960,000 from elderly client sentenced
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