$700k theft was stepdaughter’s scheme with boyfriend, Fresno DA says at trial

By Robert Rodriguez

As the population ages, older Americans are being victimized in a variety of ways. What can be done to recognize and prevent elder abuse? By Craig Kohlruss

Two former Fresno County residents are on trial this week, accused of taking advantage of a Sanger businessman and draining his estate of more than $700,000 over several years. 

Gina Abercrombie and her boyfriend, Justin D. Teel, both of Pleasanton in Alameda County, are charged with several felonies, including theft from an elder adult and obtaining money, labor or property by false pretenses.

If convicted, they each face more than five years in prison. 

During her opening statements, Senior Deputy District Attorney Lisa Urrizola shared with the jury the story of Randy Hansen, a successful entrepreneur who scratched out a tidy fortune following in the footsteps of his father, Emery Carol Hansen, a professional golfer who developed the 18-hole Sherwood Forest Golf Club in 1968. 

The Hansens also built a mobile home park and invested in real estate including homes in Bass Lake and Aptos. 

Randy Hansen stood to inherit the family fortune after his parents and brother passed away. His wife Deborah Hansen passed away in 2017, and that is when the trouble began, Urrizola told the jury.

At the center of the family tension were his daughters, Stacy Hansen Dovali, Randy Hansen’s biological daughter, and his stepdaughter, Gina Abercrombie, and her boyfriend, Justin Teel, whom she had known since high school. 

“After Deborah dies, Gina launches a full-on assault,” Urrizola said. “She completely went after Randy’s estate, cash and properties. And within six days, she had taken Randy to a lawyer to create a new trust.” 

Urrizola accuses Abercrombie and Teel of taking advantage of Hansen’s health. Hansen was suffering from diabetes, heart disease, prostate cancer and a stroke. 

She told the jury that Abercrombie convinced Hansen to give her authority over his finances through a power of attorney document. And she was also declared the proxy for Hansen’s health director in the event he was unable to make his own medical decisions. 

Teel is accused of lying to a real estate agent to sell one of Randy Hansen’s homes in Bass Lake. Teel allegedly told a real estate agent that Hansen signed a real estate contract to sell the home. Urrizola said Hansen was not aware the home was being sold. 

“The evidence will show that this was just a vehicle for Miss Abercrombie to funnel money out of the property,” she said. “It was just more gratuitous theft of Mr. Hansen’s money.” 

After his stroke, Hansen was supposed to be taken to therapy , but he never went. Instead, Abercrombie drove him to Aptos where a notary public was waiting for them to sign property deeds.

Urrizola claims Hansen signed several property deeds including for the mobile home park and a home in Bass Lake to a trust that Abercrombie had access to. 

Hansen died on March 4, 2020. He was 74 years old. 

Abercrombie’s lawyer, Chuck Smith, said his client tells a different version of her relationship with her stepfather. 

“Randy Hansen loves both his biological daughter and his step-daughter a great deal,” Smith said. “And in a lot of ways his step-daughter Gina was much more a part of his life than Stacy was. So when Stacy’s grandmother Jane Hansen died, Stacy went on a campaign for the next 15 years to make sure all of the estate went to her to the exclusion of all the other beneficiaries.” 

The trial resumes on Tuesday .

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$700k theft was stepdaughter’s scheme with boyfriend, Fresno DA says at trial