Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Caretaker charged after embezzling over $61K from elderly woman

By JARRID McCORMICK

RED JACKET — A Mingo County woman is facing 15 felony charges after police say she embezzled more than $60,000 from an elderly woman she was taking care of.

Barbara Jean Gooslin, 63, of Red Jacket was arrested Jan. 14 by the West Virginia State Police and charged with seven counts of forgery, seven counts of uttering and one count of embezzlement by misuse of fiduciary relationship, according to a criminal complaint filed in Mingo County Magistrate Court.

According to the complaint, Gooslin was serving as a caretaker for the victim from Feb. 6, 2018, to July 11, 2018, assisting her with day-to-day needs, running errands and paying bills.

She would also assist the victim with retrieving the victim’s mail and making sure the incoming bills were paid by issuing checks to the biller.

During this time period, police say that Gooslin wrote seven of the victim’s checks made out to either herself or “cash” in varying amounts.

The checks cashed were written for $9,500, $8,000, $9,500, $9,600, $7,500, $9,750 and $7,500 — a total of $61,350.

While interviewing Gooslin, the report states she told police that she wrote the checks to herself and cashed them at the Matewan Branch of BB&T and did so without authorization or consent from the victim or any other authorized person.

When asked about the cash, she told police that she did not have any of the cash on hand or in her possession and was unable to tell the officer what the money was spent on or where it is located.

Gooslin was arraigned in Mingo County Magistrate Court by David Justice and has since been released after posting a $40,000 cash/property bail.

Corporal J.D. Matheny of the Williamson Detachment of the WVSP was listed as the investigating officer.

Disclaimer: All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. A criminal complaint is a document that alleges a criminal charge.

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