Woman Accused Of Stealing $851,000 From Elderly, Disabled

Sheila Grochowski

Police have charged a Winsted bookkeeper with embezzling $851,000 from the accounts of elderly and disabled people whose finances were under the control of probate court conservatorships.

Sheila Grochowski, 70, gained access to the victims’ bank accounts through her employment with Barbara H. Hance Associates, a firm appointed by probate courts to handle the financial affairs of people under conservatorships.

According to the warrant for Grochowski’s arrest, she forged the signature of the firm’s owner, Barbara Hance, on 591 checks and two withdrawal slips and stole $851,811 between January 2010 and May 2016, when Hance fired Grochowski.

Hance could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

Authorities do not know where the money went, but when confronted by Hance in early 2015 about the embezzlement of $4,829, Grochowski admitted the forgery and said she needed the money for medical expenses, according to the warrant for Grochowski’s arrest.

After that incident, Hance kept Grochowski as an employee, set up a repayment plan and did not notify police.

In May 2016 more problems with checks were found, and Hance determined that Grochowski’s alleged thefts were more extensive. A forensic audit by an accounting firm, and a review of thousands of pages of Grochowski’s bank records by Avon Det. Edward Espinoza and state Inspector Jack Bannan revealed the extent of Grochowski’s alleged thefts.

The investigators identified 25 people they say were victimized by Grochowski, including her own father who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was under a conservatorship. Grochowski allegedly wrote herself checks from her father’s accounts and listed herself as executor of his estate, although he was still alive.

The investigators also found that in 1988 Grochowski was charged by Torrington police with first-degree larceny, second-degree larceny and third-degree forgery. She was convicted in November 1989 and sentenced to five years in prison.

In signing the warrant for Grochowski’s arrest, Hartford Superior Court Judge Laura F. Baldini set bail at $750,000. At Grochowski’s arraignment Monday in Hartford, Judge Tammy Nguyen-O’Dowd released Grochowski on a promise to appear in court.

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Woman Accused Of Stealing $851,000 From Elderly, Disabled

Civil suit filed against Grand Lake attorney already facing criminal charges

Betty Pitts-Cartwright

Sheila Stogsdill news@delcojournal.com
 
A Grand Lake attorney and her former employee already facing multiple criminal charges of theft and perjury charges in Oklahoma and Missouri are now facing a civil suit in connection with money allegedly stolen from a guardianship trust account of a handicapped adult man.

Betty Pitts-Cartwright, 62, of Afton and Donna Ann Cupp, 60, of Sallisaw, are listed as defendants in a civil suit in Delaware County District Court in Jay filed on May 6. They are accused of stealing $129,502.07 from the guardianship estate of Dennis Alan Brown Jr.

The lawsuit was filed by Dennis Allen Brown Sr.

The seven-page petition states between June 4, 2010 and April 2, 2013, checks totaling $108,802.79 and endorsed by Cartwright’s signature were withdrawn from the guardianship bank account and deposited in the Cornerstone Bank, which is located in Southwest City, Mo.

Also between June 4, 2010 and April 2, 2013, checks totaling $20,699.28 bearing no endorsement were withdrawn from the guardianship bank account and deposited into Cartwright’s trust account in her name, the petition states. The funds were deposited in Cartwright’s personal bank account, her lawyers trust account or in a joint account with Cupp, the petition states.

Cartwright is accused of failing to prevent Cupp from stealing money from guardianship funds, the petition states.

After the previous guardian, Angela Coles, died in 2013, Dennis Brown Sr. was appointed over the estate.

Brown ordered the bank records to be examined which revealed Cartwright and Cupps used, diverted and took possession of the guardianship funds, the petition states. An Adair County District Court order on Sept. 27, 2013 gave permission for Brown to retain counsel and initiate proceedings.

In the criminal case filed in Associate Circuit Court of McDonald County in Missouri Cupp told authorities the account was set up at the Missouri bank because Cartwright said, “so people in Jay would not know her business,” according to an arrest affidavit.

The majority of the withdrawals on the account were made as automated teller machine transactions for cash, and nearly all of them were made at casinos, the affidavit states.

Cupp, a former school superintendent, pleaded no contest in 2004 to multiple counts of embezzlement in Sequoyah County and received a 5-year suspended sentence, court records show.

She stole $157,000 from Central School and used money from the school’s general fund to purchase items to furnish her new home, including marble and tile, artwork, a hot tub, and yard equipment, court records show.

This is the second civil lawsuit files against Cartwright. In June 2013 AET Enterprises, LLC filed a civil suit against AET Enterprise, LLC, Betty Pitts-Cartwright and her daughter Julie A. Pitts.

The mother and daughter are accused preparing a phony land deed and a bogus Oklahoma corporation to obtain ownership of a 5,500 square-foot waterfront residence that sits along an 18-hole golf course and has four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. The residence was the home of Cartwright’s former boyfriend, Tor Staubo.

Staubo is a professional boat racer from Norway and paid $1.2 million in cash for a luxury Grand Lake residence then spent another $250,000 to furnish the residence.

A preliminary hearing for Cartwright in the Missouri case is set for May 27, court records show.

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Civil suit filed against Grand Lake attorney already facing criminal charges

Legal Guardian Indicted On Theft, Records-Tampering Charges

An attorney who served as a legal guardian for hundreds of people in central Ohio has been indicted on charges alleging theft, records-tampering and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

The Franklin County prosecutor says 65-year-old Paul Kormanik is accused of taking large amounts of money from his wards and obtaining free funeral services for some clients by concealing their accounts.

The indictment announced Wednesday against Kormanik includes two previous felony theft charges to which he pleaded not guilty in October. The nine new counts include felony charges of theft from an elderly or disabled person, tampering with records and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

A court official says no court date has been set.

Kormanik’s attorney Richard Kline declined to comment Wednesday.

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Legal Guardian Indicted On Theft, Records-Tampering Charges