Former Preston disability support worker ordered to pay nearly $10K in restitution to victims of financial exploitation

By KAALTV

(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester woman was ordered to pay $9,745 and spend nine days in jail after being convicted of theft and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Buffy Jo Bathke, formerly of Preston, was charged thrice with financially exploiting a vulnerable adult and thrice with theft by swindle after taking nearly $10,000 out of Maple Leaf Services clients’ accounts by writing and endorsing checks, then taking the money that was meant to go into the alleged victims’ petty cash funds or pay for goods and services.

According to court records, Bathke pleaded guilty to one count of theft by swindle. The two other theft by swindle charges were dismissed, as were two of the financial exploitation charges.

Bathke received a stay of adjudication for the third financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult charge.

If Bathke completes her probation without further incident, the financial exploitation charge will not go on her criminal record, according to MN Court Records Online.

Bathke, 48, was ordered Monday, Dec. 33, to spend the next five years on supervised probation.

She was also ordered to pay $4,450 in restitution to one victim, $1,815 to another, and $3,480 to a third.

Bathke was also ordered to spend 45 days on electronic home monitoring between now and March 1, 2024.

Bathke may not be a fiduciary or caretaker of another person’s financial assets during her probation, according to court records.

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(ABC 6 News) – A Preston woman faces three charges of financially exploiting a vulnerable adult and three charges of theft by swindle in Fillmore County Court, after allegedly using her position at Maple Leaf Services in Preston to steal from residents.

Buffy Jo Bathke, 47, is accused of taking nearly $10,000 out of three clients’ accounts by writing and endorsing checks, then taking the money that was meant to go into the alleged victims’ petty cash funds or pay for goods and services.

According to court documents, the alleged thefts took place between March of 2015 and August 2021, when the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC) contacted Preston police about money missing from the three vulnerable adults’ bank accounts.

The MAARC report alleged that Bathke took $3,480 from one alleged victim’s account, $4,445 from the second, and $1,815 from the third alleged victim’s account over the course of several years.

Bathke is scheduled to appear in Fillmore County Court Monday, June 12.  

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Former Preston disability support worker ordered to pay nearly $10K in restitution to victims of financial exploitation

Disbarred lawyer Garve Ivey Jr. convicted of theft, ordered to pay $381,515

Attorney Garve Ivey - Mobile County Circuit Court - June 15, 2000

A disbarred attorney from Walker County has been convicted on two counts of felony theft of property.

Garve Ivey Jr., 67, pleaded guilty in a Walker County courtroom Wednesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Thursday.

Ivey admitted to unlawfully taking client funds from his trust account over a period of several years to fund his extravagant lifestyle, Marshall said. He pleaded guilty before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Streety, who was specially-appointed to preside over the case.

The investigation into Ivey began after the Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama State Bar received multiple complaints regarding theft of client trust funds. An extensive investigation showed that on several occasions, Ivey would settle cases on behalf of clients that were plaintiffs in personal injury or wrongful death cases.

Instead of informing his clients that a settlement had been reached and disbursing to the victims their portions of the funds, he would transfer the settlement money into his operating and personal accounts and use it to fund his lavish and extravagant lifestyle, Marshall said.

In 2011, Ivey was disbarred from the practice of law by order of the Supreme Court of Alabama. He had consented to disbarment based on two investigation concerning the misappropriation of third-party and client funds from Ivey’s trust account.

In 2012, he was indicted by a Walker County grand jury on multiple charges of theft of property. In those cases, authorities said, Ivey was charged with 10 counts of first-degree theft of a check or currency valued a more than $2,500 and one count of second-degree theft of a check or currency valued between $500 and $2,500. The money belonged to 14 people.

The following year, Ivey was again indicted in Walker County with two additional theft charges.

After many years of delays, the case was set to go to trial in April. However, Marshall said, at a Wednesday status hearing, Ivey agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts and pay restitution in the amount of $381,515.20. Both counts are class B felonies and are controlled by the Alabama presumptive sentencing guidelines. Sentencing will be left to the discretion of the court and is set for April 29, 2019.

“The victims in this case went to Ivey for help at a time of great need,” Marshall said in a prepared statement. “These people were injured in an accident or a family member was wrongfully killed and they were seeking justice. Instead, they were victimized again by the greed of an individual who used his position of trust to enrich himself.”

“This type of conduct erodes the trust that the people of Alabama should be able to place in members of the Alabama bar,’’ Marshall said. “It will not be tolerated.”

Ivey, who was once active in politics and was the brother of former Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey, was sentenced by a judge in 2000 to 30 days in jail and fined $1,000 for his role in an ex-hooker’s election-year 1998 accusations against former Lt. Gov. Steve Windom. The misdemeanor conviction, however, was reversed and a judgement of acquittal entered in 2001 in that case.

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Disbarred lawyer Garve Ivey Jr. convicted of theft, ordered to pay $381,515

Keokuk woman sentenced to probation in theft case

Laura Hawkins

QUINCY -- A Keokuk, Iowa, woman must pay $18,000 in restitution for stealing from an elderly family member living in a Quincy nursing home.

Laura Hawkins, 56, was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Charles Burch in Adams County Circuit Court to 30 months of second-chance probation, a form of probation where a conviction will be removed from a person's record if probation is successfully completed. The terms were agreed to by Assistant State's Attorney Anita Rodriguez and Hawkins' attorney, Curtis Dial.

A hearing was expected to Wednesday to review restitution, but both sides agreed to the $18,000 in restitution. The probation will end early if Hawkins pays the restitution, and Burch agreed to let her transfer probation to Iowa.

Hawkins was found guilty of theft in a stipulated bench trial last month before Burch. Two counts of financial exploitation of the elderly were dismissed.

After Hawkins' arrest in February 2016, the Quincy Police Department said it was notified by Sycamore Healthcare of a 77-year-old resident who was possibly being exploited by a family member with power of attorney for the resident. An investigation found that several thousand dollars had been misused.

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Keokuk woman sentenced to probation in theft case

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Keokuk woman convicted of theft from elderly relative

Keokuk woman convicted on theft charge

Keokuk woman convicted of theft from elderly relative

Laura Hawkins

QUINCY -- A Keokuk, Iowa, woman was convicted of a theft charge Wednesday stemming from allegations that she stole from an elderly family member living in a Quincy nursing home.

Court records show that Laura Hawkins, 56, was found guilty in a bench trial before Judge Charles Burch after she waived her right to a jury trial.

Hawkins was initially charged with two counts of financial exploitation of the elderly, but those charges were dismissed Wednesday.

After Hawkins' arrest in February 2016, the Quincy Police Department said it was notified by Sycamore Healthcare of a 77-year-old resident who was possibly being exploited by a family member acting as a power of attorney for the resident. An investigation found that several thousand dollars allegedly had been misused.

Sentencing in the case was set for Sept. 6. Hawkins could be sentenced to two to five years in prison. She is eligible for probation.

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Keokuk woman convicted of theft from elderly relative