Robert Kenneth Lindell was sentenced Tuesday in what authorities call one of Maine's worst cases of elder financial abuse.
By J. Craig AndersonStaff Writer
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| Kenneth Lindell |
Former Maine lawmaker Robert Kenneth Lindell has been sentenced to 10
years in prison for what authorities have described as one of the worst
cases of elder financial abuse they’ve seen in the state.
Lindell was sentenced Tuesday in Penobscot County Superior Court on
15 criminal counts including theft, securities fraud and income tax
evasion for defrauding two elderly widows out of more than $3 million
and failing to pay income taxes on his ill-gotten gains, the Maine
Office of Securities said. Lindell
was convicted of the crimes by a jury on Nov. 7.
The judge also ordered Lindell to pay $750,000 in restitution to his
victims, in addition to money already recovered and any money recovered
in the future, the office said in a news release.
“This significant sentence recognizes the real gravity and
far-reaching impact elder financial exploitation has on victims,” Judith
Shaw, administrator of the Maine Office of Securities, said in a
release. “Mr. Lindell used his position of trust to groom and prey on
his victims and we will not tolerate that from anyone, especially our
licensed financial professionals.”
Prosecutors said Lindell began acting as a securities agent for
Phyllis Poor of Belfast in the early 2000s and eventually was given
Poor’s power of attorney and named co-personal representative of her
estate and trustee of accounts for her disabled veteran son. Poor died
in 2012.
Lindell used his access to Poor’s finances to write checks to himself
and his company from the accounts of Poor’s estate, paying personal
expenses with trust and estate money. He also bought, renovated and
lived in a home in the California wine country with money from Poor’s
accounts.
Lindell also stole from a trust set up for Poor’s son, a disabled
veteran who resides in an assisted-living facility in Florida,
prosecutors said.
Lindell’s second victim, Gianna Lewis, lives outside Paris and has
known Lindell since he was born, prosecutors said. Lindell was the
trustee for accounts set up for Lewis’ benefit by her late husband, and
Lindell was convicted of writing himself checks from her account and
paying his personal expenses with the money.
Prosecutors said Lindell also failed to pay taxes on the money he
took from the widows’ accounts and received tax refunds to which he
wasn’t entitled.
Lindell lived in Cloverdale, California, before his bail was revoked
in May 2018. He still owned property in Frankfort, where he served two
terms as a Republican state legislator from 2004 to 2008, when he was
defeated in a re-election bid. While in the Legislature, he served on
the Insurance and Financial Services Committee.
Experts on elder financial abuse said the Lindell case is unusual because it involves a financial professional.
Typically, it’s family members who steal from the elderly, said Jaye
Martin, executive director of Maine Legal Services for the Elderly.
A family member might offer to help an elderly relative pay his or
her bills each month, she said, and then steal money once they have
access to the older relative’s checking account. Martin said the
situation often escalates to where a relative arranges to strip the
older relative of the equity in their home or get power of attorney and
take possession of the house, because that’s usually an older person’s
most valuable asset.
If a professional is involved in elder financial abuse, she said, the
impact can be greater because a professional knows where to find and
dispose of assets. A professional is also more likely to steal a large
amount, Martin said, because they know they could lose their license and
face criminal charges if the fraud is exposed. But, she added, many
elderly people aren’t aware of the extent of the fraud and are reluctant
to report family members to the police.
“The professionals (involved in elder financial abuse) are few and
far between, but the amounts, I think, would be stunning if we knew,”
she said.
Kathy Baxter, a social worker and director of community services at
the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, agreed with Martin that anonymous
scams and relatives are often the perpetrators when elderly people are
defrauded.
“It’s rare that you hear about it happening with a professional,” she said.
And many fraud cases aren’t even reported, Baxter said.
“Most of the time they don’t want to prosecute a family member and
there are a lot of cases you don’t hear about it because they don’t want
to go forward,” she said.
Victims are often embarrassed that they were taken advantage of and
that’s another reason why many cases aren’t reported, Baxter said.
The agency on aging has a program called Money Minders that can help
the elderly with budgeting and bill-paying, Baxter said, offering an
alternative to relying on family members for help. The program is free
for middle- and lower-income seniors.
Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy contributed to this report.
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Ex-lawmaker who defrauded elderly widows out of $3 million gets 10 years in prison
