According to the Attorney General’s Office, Steven James Berg diverted nearly $98,000 from a family member’s bank accounts for his own personal use, while her nursing home bills went unpaid.
By Dale Morin
ST. PAUL — A man from Sacred Heart has been summoned to appear in court on three felony charges of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Dec. 9 that the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in his office will prosecute the case.
An investigator in that unit put the total of exploited funds at nearly $98,000.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Chippewa County District Court, Steven James Berg, 54, is alleged to have misused $90,084.58 from the accounts of a family member from February through September of 2024. The complaint alleges he used the funds for his own benefit, while dodging payments for the woman’s nursing home care and other medical bills.
Berg was a co-signer of her financial accounts and held power of attorney at the time.
Berg then allegedly misappropriated an additional $7,710.66 from the woman’s new bank account, between September 2024 and March 2025, by pressuring her after finding out he had lost his privileges related to her accounts.
According to the complaint, Berg had gone as far as to use funds from her accounts to pay his own property taxes in Chippewa County.
According to a news release from the office of the Attorney General, Chippewa County Attorney Matthew Haugen referred the case in July of 2025 to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit — which works to uncover, investigate, and prosecute individuals or organizations that steal from Medicaid funds and exploit, neglect or abuse vulnerable victims.
The Montevideo Police Department, Chippewa County Social Services and Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office also helped investigate the case.
In a written statement Attorney General Ellison said, “Everyone deserves to afford their lives and live with dignity, safety, and respect, but all too often financial exploitation robs older Minnesotans of those essentials.”
Ellison continued, “additionally, these cases often involve a profound betrayal of trust, since that exploitation often comes from someone the vulnerable adult trusted to manage their finances. Steven Berg’s theft and betrayal ... is appalling and my office and I will do everything in our power to ensure he faces justice for his crimes.”
According to court documents available online, a summons has been issued to Berg. His first appearance is currently scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026.
The background detailed in the criminal complaint begins with the then-81-year-old woman spending six nights in a hospital after she suffered injuries from a fall. She subsequently moved into a nursing home on Feb. 7, 2024. She had lived alone at a single-family residence before being admitted to the nursing home.
Her medical history noted that by that time she was having issues of memory loss. Staff at the nursing home noted she required lots of assistance with activities.
A nursing home staff member first reported concerns to Montevideo police in August of 2024 after obtaining bank records to help the woman apply for Medicaid assistance and was concerned with the amount of cash withdrawals Berg had made. According to the complaint, Berg had made more than 100 cash withdrawals between January and August of 2024.
When asked by staff about the withdrawals, Berg replied that he was using the funds to pay his family member’s remaining hospital bills. However, a review of bank and hospital records showed that the hospital had stopped receiving any payments for the medical costs in February 2024.
According to the complaint, Berg only made one payment of $2,725 from her accounts to cover her nursing home and medical bills. During the period, he was still listed as a co-signer and had power of attorney, and the accumulated overdue bills totaled more than $90,000.
Police interviewed Berg after receiving reports in August 2024. According to the complaint, Berg admitted to using some of the cash withdrawals on himself, but did not specify how much money he used. He told officers that some of the money had been used for maintenance on the woman’s house but was unable to provide any receipts.
In two interviews with Montevideo police, the 81-year-old woman confirmed that Berg was her only adult relative in the area who could help take care of her. She also indicated that she was unaware she was behind on her nursing home bills. On Sept. 13, 2024, she confirmed to Montevideo police that she did not want Berg withdrawing money from her accounts going forward.
In the fall of 2024, employees whose accounts were held took notice of Berg’s withdrawal activity and initiated their own internal investigation of those transactions. During the investigation, employees requested Berg conduct all his cash withdrawals in person.
After account balances became negative, a teller supervisor opened a new account for the woman and advised her to keep Berg off the new account. According to the complaint, Berg was never a co-signer on the new account.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit reviewed investigative files from Montevideo police and Chippewa County Family Services, along with records from several other financial and health organizations, to determine to what extent Berg had used the woman’s accounts for her benefit.
Beginning in 2024, her bank and brokerage accounts had a collective balance of more than $53,000 and she was receiving more than $1,800 a month in her checking account from the Social Security Administration at the end of every month, through August of 2024.
In the fall of 2024, nursing home staff urged Berg to sell her house in order to pay off the overdue balance she owed the nursing home at that time. According to the complaint, the sale of her house closed on March 12, 2025. After a majority of the money had gone to pay off her debts, a little over $18,000 was deposited into her new account, for which Berg was not a co-signer.
However, 12 days after the home sale, Berg arranged for the woman to meet him at her financial institution. Records showed that $6,920.66 was withdrawn from the new account during their visit that day.
According to the complaint, $2,000 went to Berg for “reimbursement of funds” and the remaining amount went to the Chippewa County Treasurer. The memo line on the cashier’s check to the Treasurer’s Office read, “STEVEN BERG PROP TAXES.”
Four days later on March 28, 2025, Berg arranged for the two to again meet where her accounts were held. According to financial records, Berg requested that $5,000 be withdrawn from her new account, but employees permitted only $500 to be withdrawn during their visit that day.
By April of 2025, a fraud and risk manager cut a check from the woman’s new account, to cover her room and board at the nursing home through August of 2025, and closed the account. The nursing home where she resides then became her new representative payee.
According to at least one witness, Berg had historically received financial support on and off from the woman. According to the complaint, a review of records at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development showed Berg had not reported any employment or wages since the third quarter of 2024. Records also showed he had not held full-time employment since the second quarter of 2019, at the latest.
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Sacred Heart, Minnesota, man alleged to have financially exploited family member
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