Newry couple charged with bilking family member

Dickmans allegedly took more than $500,000, home from elderly woman

David Dickman

A Newry couple face charges after police said they bilked an elderly family member out of more than a half million dollars and her home.

David Scott Dickman, 45, and his wife, Melissa Marie Dickman, 44, each face felony charges of theft by unlawful taking-movable property, theft by unlawful taking-immovable property, theft by deception and endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person for whom they are responsible.

The two were arraigned Monday in front of Magisterial District Judge Paula M. Aigner and remanded to the Blair County Prison after each failed to post 10% of $50,000 bail. They are scheduled for preliminary hearings July 26 in front of Aigner.

Court documents describe a lengthy investigation initiated by Blair Senior Services on March 21, 2019, when the organization contacted the Blair Township Police Department regarding a client who was a suspected victim of theft by appointed power of attorneys.

Information provided at that time showed suspected illegal activity in Blair, Freedom and Allegheny townships, and police officers from all three jurisdictions participated in the investigation, court documents state.

Melissa Dickman

The victim and her husband lived along Robin Lane in Duncansville for many years, police reported, with the victim being the primary caregiver for her husband and managing the family finances.

After she suffered a stroke in April 2014 and needed help in the home, the Dickmans and their daughter moved in to help.

The victim said she accepted the need for help around the house, but was able to continue the financial matters such as writing checks and paying the bills; however, the Dickmans insisted they take over the finances as well, according to court documents.

The victim’s husband passed away in June 2015, and the victim estimated their combined liquid assets were more than $600,000. They also owned their home and a 2011 Ford Edge. She and her husband had several joint accounts, police reported, including a CD and investment and brokerage accounts. The victim told police she was confident her financial assets would be sufficient to last for her lifetime.

Shortly after the victim’s husband passed away, the Dickmans were adamant they would be her power of attorney, she told police.

Court documents state that the victim’s accounts “contained substantial amounts” of money when the power of attorney was obtained on July 8, 2015.

According to the victim, the Dickmans had total control over her finances and would not tell her how the money was managed or spent and she had to rely on them to take care of her. In March 2019, the victim realized that her previously substantial finances were depleted.

The victim told police the Dickmans left her broke, court records show.

Police traced the activity on all the accounts and found that the victim’s assets from other accounts were transferred periodically to the primary account, and that primary account showed a zero balance as of Dec. 28, 2018, when the account was closed.

The total amount of money that passed through that primary account was about $919,049, police reported. While some transactions were for legitimate purposes, the victim, who worked with police to review the accounts statements, had no knowledge why or for what purpose a substantial majority of the checks/automatic payments had been written to individuals or entities, court documents state.

Additional investigation into the account activity showed 172 checks payable to Melissa Dickman for a total of $137,451; 119 checks payable to David Dickman for a total of $67,347; 148 checks made payable to a second male for a total of $60,671; 53 checks made payable to a caregiver for a total of $9,088; and 410 checks payable to CASH for a total of $356,660. Police reported there were no records given for the checks made out to cash and “sales slips” documented the other expenditures.

Police said further investigation revealed into the victim’s account activity showed checks written/money disbursed for the purchase of two RV travel trailers, one for David Dickman, $4,381.70, and one for the second man, $5,000, as well as lot payments for where the campers were parked; the purchase of at least three motor vehicles and auto insurance; and the purchase of two homes deeded to the second man and located along Dunnings Highway in Blair Township, with a total purchase price of $130,000.

In addition, police found a mortgage for $71,225 was placed on the victim’s home by Melissa Dickman in December 2017. The victim had no knowledge of the mortgage, police said.

On March 29, 2018, the Dickmans sold the victim’s home for $210,504 with $72,356 of that amount used to pay off the mortgage by Melissa Dickman, police reported. That left $108,461 from the sale of the home, with records indicating $20,871 was transferred to an attorney’s account the same day the Dickmans used the funds as a down payment to purchase an East Freedom home in their names only from Melissa Dickman’s relatives, court records state.

Police said records show the Dickmans used the victim’s money to make monthly payments on the home. In addition, police said records indicate the home was sold back to Melissa Dickman’s relatives on April 5, 2019, for $1.

The victim and the Dickmans lived at the East Freedom home for about a year before Blair Senior Services removed the victim from the home.

As police continued to investigate the victim’s accounts, they found a new checking account in the victim’s name, with Melissa Dickman as the power of attorney. The account, opened in January 2019, included Social Security deposits for the victim. Account activity, though, showed the money being spent for trash billing for the second man and Melissa Dickman, AAA membership for Melissa Dickman, Atlantic Broadband payments for a third man, a FirstEnergy payment for Melissa Dickman, a credit acceptance loan payment for the second man, and a payment for a bill in Melissa Dickman’s name. Other debits to the account were for cash, police reported. The account was overdrawn and closed, and the victim was not aware of its existence, police said.

In addition to the loss of funds, police said the victim told officers that she was seldom taken to doctors appointments, even though before the Dickmans became her power of attorneys she saw her physicians/specialists, physical therapists and dentist regularly.

The victim also learned that the Dickmans had not filled out the required tax returns for 2016-18 and she now owes back taxes for those years.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the information gathered from the investigation indicates the Dickmans spent the victim’s money and disbursed her assets “to their own benefit and to the benefit of others.”

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Newry couple charged with bilking family member