Lancaster County man arrested for stealing funds from estate

Story by Brendan King

A Lancaster County executor has been arrested for allegedly stealing funds from an estate he was responsible for. 

According to the Ephrata Police Department, 58-year-old Dervin L. Bender stole $27,760 from the estate over approximately two years. Authorities charged Bender with theft by unlawful taking and financial exploitation of an adult or care-dependent person.

According to police, Bender was one of two co-executors of the estate. The deceased's will decreed that after payments and taxes, the remainder of the finances would be distributed in equal shares to Bender and three other people.

Bender and the co-executor were supposed to both sign any checks issued from the estate, but Bender endorsed several checks and distributed them to himself for personal expenses, the investigation discovered.

Bender also did not pay all of the estate's outstanding expenses, which totaled more than $15,000, police discovered.

Bender also sold the deceased's home for $15,000 and did not deposit the money into the estate's bank account, according to police.

When interviewed by police, Bender admitted to keeping the funds from the sale of the home for himself, and endorsing and issuing checks to himself from the estate. He allegedly told police he spent all the money on gifts for his grandchildren and personal expenses.

Bender was arraigned on Tuesday and released on unsecured bail. 

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Lancaster County man arrested for stealing funds from estate