A Champlin woman seized on her 90-year-old mother’s deteriorating
mental capacity by writing checks to herself totaling more than $50,000
from her mother’s account without consent, authorities say.
Jane Francis Barbosa, 54, was charged Tuesday with two counts of
financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult as well as two counts of
felony theft, according to the criminal complaint filed against her in
Ramsey County District Court.
Investigators were alerted to the case by the 90-year-old St. Paul
woman’s attorney after the attorney learned her client felt “scared and
intimidated” by Barbosa, according to the criminal complaint. The woman
told her attorney that her daughter had recently demanded she write a
check to her for $60,000 and that she made similar financial demands in
the past, according to the complaint.
Barbosa was questioned about the incident and told investigators the
request had been borne of a “one-time fit of passion” that had since
“blown over,” according to the criminal complaint.
She went on to say that other than small payments ranging from $10 to
$60 to cover housecleaning and errands, she didn’t receive money from
her mother, according to the charges.
But a closer look at her mother’s bank records revealed otherwise, according to the complaint.
While investigators did find several smaller checks written to
Barbosa for housework, they also saw several checks for substantially
larger amounts totaling about $30,000, including one for $10,000,
another for $7,000 and a third for $6,000, legal documents say.
When Barbosa was asked to explain, she told investigators she
neglected to mention those checks because she didn’t think they were
necessary, the complaint said.
Barbosa continued to write large checks to herself without anything
written in the memo line even after talking with investigators, the
complaint said.
Those checks totaled about $20,000 in three months.
Barbosa’s mother was shocked when law enforcement told her about the
checks, saying she wrote her daughter only checks for $10 a week.
When pushed about the amounts, Barbosa told investigators the larger
checks had been loans from her mother, but she was unable to provide any
proof of the terms, according to the complaint.
Barbosa also knows that her mother’s age and dementia prevent her from being able to consent to such loans, the complaint said.
No attorney was listed for Barbosa in court records. She is expected
to make her first court appearance on the charges in late May.
Barbosa has no criminal record in Minnesota.
Full Article & Source:
Champlin woman accused of stealing more than $50,000 from 90-year-old mother with dementia, charges say
