Conviction in Elderly Exploitation Case

Posted on February 14, 2025

Franado Ray Brown Jr. has been convicted of multiple charges in a case involving financial exploitation of the elderly. The jury returned the guilty verdict just after 7 p.m. Thursday night in Lee County, following a three-day trial. The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Jessica Horowitz, of the State Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit.

The defendant was found guilty of:

• Count I: Grand Theft from a Person 65 Years of Age or Older, including the finding for the value of the property

• Count II: Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card

• Count III: Unlawful Possession of the Personal Identification Information of Another Person

• Count IV: Exploiting Elderly/Disabled Person, including the finding for the value of the funds, asset, or property

• Count V: Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card

• Count VI: Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card

• Count VII: Exploiting Elderly/Disabled Person, including the finding for the value of the funds

• Count VIII: Theft, including the finding for the value of the property

The victim in this case was a 72-year-old physically disabled adult, who took in the defendant in exchange for room and board. The defendant was to be assisting the victim with his errands, medication organization, and transportation. The victim provided the defendant with access to a debit card for the victim’s necessary purchases, but the defendant added his name to the victim’s credit card accounts, charging thousands of dollars.

The victim never gave permission for the defendant to add his name to the account or use the credit cards. In addition to charges for hotels and bars, the defendant took thousands of dollars of cash advances from the cards.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office investigated the crimes. The defendant admitted to law enforcement that he used the funds to buy Fentanyl for himself and a friend.

The victim was unable to testify but multiple physicians, both local and out of state, testified on behalf of the victim.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 17, 2025.

Samantha Syoen – Communications Director, State Attorney’s Office

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Conviction in Elderly Exploitation Case

Guilty Verdict in Elderly Exploitation Case

Posted on December 9, 2024

Lynn Marie Keller, 69, has been found guilty as charged of seven counts of Exploiting Elderly/Disabled Person and two counts of Grand Theft from a Person 65 Years or Older. The jury returned the guilty verdict Friday, following a five-day jury trial in Naples.

Assistant State Attorney Jessica Horowitz prosecuted the case.

On November 30, 2019, the victims’ son contacted the Collier County Sheriff’s Office in reference to grand theft of $20,000 in jewelry and a car. The defendant, a friend and neighbor of the victims, was the suspect. The victims were an elderly woman who was under crisis care by hospice and her husband, who was now living in a skilled nursing facility. The defendant was abusing their relationship for financial gain.

Further investigation revealed transactions made by the defendant utilizing a Power of Attorney of the female victim and the victims joint bank accounts.

The female victim died. The defendant then took many items from the house and fled the area. She also instructed a friend of the victim, not to tell the son that his mother died.

Deputies made contact with the defendant who admitted having possession of the jewelry, as well as the couple’s checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards. She also admitted having the 2019 Kia Sorrento. The defendant transferred the car into her own name the day before the female victim died and without the male victim’s permission. The defendant told deputies she was in the Florida Keys but would return with the items. The vehicle was never returned.

A warrant was issued for her arrest. She was arrested by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and extradited to Collier County.

A status conference is set for December 16, 2024, at which time a sentencing date will be scheduled.

Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office Communications Director

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Guilty Verdict in Elderly Exploitation Case

Man arrested in elderly exploitation case after credit union employees spot 'red flags'

By Pat Reavy

SANDY — Police arrested a man who they say tried to get an elderly woman with dementia to withdraw money from her financial account.

Brian David Page, 57, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of robbery, intentional financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, disorderly conduct and making a threat of violence.

About 3 p.m. Tuesday, Page entered Mountain America Credit Union, 858 E. 9400 South, with an 82-year-old woman. The woman suffers from dementia and Page lives with her and is her "caretaker," according to a police booking affidavit.

However, police say the woman's son is her power of attorney "and is the only person that is able to make transactions on her account," not Page.

"Brian entered the bank and demanded that bank tellers give him $150 from the elderly female's account with her present. Bank tellers attempted to engage with the female but were unable to as Brian overrode her attempts at talking and demanded that he was in charge. Bank tellers recognized the red flags," the affidavit states.

After contacting the woman's son, credit union employees told Page they would not give him money. Employees say Page became "agitated" and told a teller to step outside so they could fight, according to the affidavit.

"Brian was asked to leave the premises and he refused several times to leave before exiting the building. Brian quickly came back inside the bank in an agitated manner, alarming the bank tellers and other patrons while telling the bank teller 'he would fight them and police outside,'" the affidavit alleges.

When the elderly woman was questioned, she said she did not know what she was doing at the credit union. Police arrived and took Page into custody.

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Man arrested in elderly exploitation case after credit union employees spot 'red flags'

State Attorney announces new elderly exploitation case in Miami-Dade

Fernandez Rundle: Duo of fraudsters take advantage of vulnerable man with dementia

Roy Ramos, Reporter
Andrea Torres, Digital Journalist

MIAMI – Detectives accused two women — including one who was working as a receptionist at a doctor’s office — of defrauding an 82-year-old man in Miami.

State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced the charges against Nerelis Leiva and Rita Benet on Tuesday saying the women stole from his bank account and attempted to steal his house in Coconut Grove.

“His vulnerabilities were acute,” Fernandez Rundle said about the victim adding that he had dementia and suffered a long-standing illness.

Fernandez Rundle described Leiva, 45, as a “predator” who befriended the victim at the doctor’s office in 2021, visited his home under the pretext of checking his blood sugar levels, and eventually moved in.

Mugshot for 45-year-old Nerelis Leiva. (Miami-Dade County Corrections)

“Once Leiva began exercising dominion over her victim, the bank withdrawals went up to $500 increments several times a month,” Fernandez Rundle said.

Leiva hired Benet, 59, a notary with American International Business and Associates, who worked on the documents used to list the house — which was valued at over $2 million, according to Fernandez Rundle.

“Benet knew that our victim was incapable of understanding what these documents were, and what these documents meant for him and his property,” Fernandez Rundle said.

The victim, who died last year of an illness, had owned the home for over three decades, according to Fernandez Rundle.

Benet and Leiva are facing charges of exploitation of the elderly, grand theft on a person over 65 or older, and organized scheme to defraud.

Mugshot for 59-year-old Rita Benet (Miami-Dade County Corrections)

Benet is also facing two counts of notary fraud, and Leiva is also facing charges of criminal use of personal identification information of a person over 60 years old and unlawfully filing a false document.

Fernandez Rundle said the victim’s alert neighbor reported there were parties at the house and something suspicious was going on. She asked that anyone who suspects elderly exploitation, call the task force at 786-804-6723.

Fernandez Rundle also said The Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts has a property fraud alert registration program to prevent real estate fraud. For more information, visit this page.

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State Attorney announces new elderly exploitation case in Miami-Dade

Sisters react in elderly exploitation case

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Sisters react in elderly exploitation case

Former Santa Rosa County lieutenant takes plea deal in elderly exploitation case

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. -- A former Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office lieutenant took a plea deal Tuesday in his elderly exploitation case.

Authorities announced in January that Scott Haines, who was in charge of an elderly woman's finances, fraudulently obtained over $10,000 by depositing the woman's rental payments into his own personal bank account.

Appearing in Santa Rosa County court Tuesday, Haines pleaded no contest to 29 counts of unauthorized use of a computer system. As part of the deal, his five elderly exploitation charges were dropped.

Haines was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay nearly $47,000 in fees. He was also ordered to relinquish his criminal justice certification.

Haines will appear in federal court on Wednesday.

Assistant State Prosecutor Guillermo Vallejo tells Channel 3 that as part of a plea deal, Haines will plead no contest to lying to the FBI (making false statements). In turn, his wire fraud charges will be dropped.

The crimes allegedly happened between Between Jan. 1, 2015 and May 12, 2021. Haines was charged with four counts of wire fraud, as well as with making fraudulent statements that he never took part in any of the matters.

The indictment stated that Haines escorted the elderly woman to the office of her attorney while in his Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office uniform. He was then appointed Power of Attorney.

Haines allegedly designated himself as the "Payable on Death" beneficiary for the victim's personal bank account, deposited rental payments into his own personal bank account and more.

Following a December 2019 investigation, Haines was demoted from captain to lieutenant within the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office following a sexual harassment investigation.

 

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Former Santa Rosa County lieutenant takes plea deal in elderly exploitation case

Miles City woman ordered to pay $94,000 restitution in elderly exploitation case

A Miles City woman who recently pleaded guilty to exploitation of an older person received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay more than $94,000 in restitution to her victim’s estate.

Del Linda Frost, 60, of Miles City was charged with theft of property by embezzlement and the exploitation of an older person, both felonies, on Jan. 3, 2019. According to a press release from the Montana Department of Justice, at a change of plea hearing on Oct. 28 Frost pleaded guilty to the exploitation charge involving the now-deceased victim, Arthur Yamada, in Custer County between March 10, 2014 and March 14, 2018.

At a sentencing hearing on Dec. 16, Judge Michael Hayworth ordered Frost to pay $94,075 in restitution and sentenced her to 10 years in prison with all time suspended.

“This case was especially troublesome, given that the defendant worked in a law office and should have had the best interests of Mr. Yamada in mind when she was appointed as his conservator,” Montana Attorney General Tim Fox said. “Instead of acting conscientiously, Ms. Frost viewed Mr. Yamada as a tempting target and began embezzling his life savings almost immediately. Financial exploitation of seniors is a serious crime; one we must all guard against. I commend the nursing home business manager who alerted authorities when she suspected something was wrong, as well as my Division of Criminal Investigation’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Custer County Attorney’s Office for their diligent work on this case.”

The Justice Department press release states Frost was appointed temporary full conservator of Yamada on March 10, 2014; she became his permanent co-conservator on January 22, 2016. On August 23, 2017, the business manager of the nursing home where Yamada lived informed Miles City police that an $8,400 check from Yamada written by Frost had bounced.

Frost wrote two more checks totaling $14,382 to the nursing home; those checks also failed to clear. Additionally, Frost wrote several checks from Yamada’s checking account for cash, which emptied the account and left Yamada unable to pay for his care.

Frost also closed two certificates of deposit totaling almost $40,000. To cover the loss, Frost transferred funds from Yamada’s other bank accounts. To explain the checks issued for cash, Frost claimed they were for Yamada’s monthly allowance and items for his personal use. Frost was unable to explain why nearly $94,000 was missing, and resigned as Yamada’s co-conservator on March 14, 2018.

Yamada died on August 2, 2018 at the age of 97.

The investigation by the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation began on Oct. 17, 2017, when the Miles City Police Department requested assistance from DCI’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

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Miles City woman ordered to pay $94,000 restitution in elderly exploitation case

Virginia physician on verge of losing deferred adjudication in elderly exploitation case

Dr. Mary Margaret Bland

CLARKSBURG — A 49-year-old Virginia physician was found in violation of her deferred adjudication on Friday for failing to report consistently to Harrison Chief Probation Officer Charles “Chic” Scott.

But Harrison Circuit Judge Chris McCarthy said he wouldn’t rule on disposition until after learning whether Mary Margaret Bland pays the full restitution on or before Sept. 7, as she’s required to do via the agreement. Bland paid $10,000 in restitution at the start of her deferred adjudication, but will have to come up with the rest, $35,000, in that two-week period.

McCarthy said it was “offensive to the court” that Bland spent money on a vacation in Italy this summer before she had paid back the victim in full.

Bland had pleaded guilty to felony financial exploitation of an elder, a charge that would be dismissed if the doctor makes it successfully through the 3-year deferred adjudication.

But in addition to not having paid full restitution, Bland also still is on the hook for 288 hours of community service. She hasn’t provided proof that she’s performed any of it.

Harrison Assistant Prosecutor Brian Shockley successfully showed Bland had violated by failing to report once a month to Scott during several months over the past year.

McCarthy also appeared upset that Bland hadn’t informed Scott ahead of time about the trip to Italy, even though it wasn’t a violation of her probation agreement.

Bland, of Chesapeake, Virginia, removed a total of $35,000 from a nursing home resident’s bank account without her permission and after the defendant no longer was the victim’s power of attorney, State Police Tfc. Roger Glaspell previously alleged.

Full Article & Source: 
Virginia physician on verge of losing deferred adjudication in elderly exploitation case

GBI makes arrest in disabled, elderly exploitation case

WALB.com, South Georgia News, Weather, Sports

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation made an arrest in a multi-county investigation of the exploitation of disabled or elderly adults.

Michelle Oliver, 39, was arrested Tuesday at her home in Forsyth after investigators with several agencies searched a personal care facility in Albany.

Oliver has been transported to the Dougherty County Jail and will have her first court appearance Thursday morning.

According to officials, the investigation began in July when neighbors told police that residents renting from Oliver were begging for food.

During the search at the homes at South Jackson Street and Flintside Drive, seven disabled or elderly adults were found. They were treated by EMS and Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and relocated to licensed facilities.

The apartments were condemned by Albany Code Enforcement because of the living conditions.

When officials searched Oliver's home in Forsyth and a residence connected to Oliver in Macon, seven additional elderly or disabled adults were found. They were all relocated.

Oliver is facing charges for exploitation and intimidation of disabled adults, elder persons, and residents (felony); neglect of a disabled adult, elder person, and resident (felony); and for operating an unlicensed personal care home (misdemeanor).

The investigation is still active and more charges against Oliver are expected. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the GBI office in Sylvester at 229-777-2080.

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GBI makes arrest in disabled, elderly exploitation case

East Helena man accused of stealing $400,000 in elderly exploitation case

An East Helena man is accused of stealing more than $400,000 from an 81-year-old woman. Authorities say the he used the funds on gambling and fast food.

Ernest Norman Hughes, 53, faces felony charges of exploitation of an older person and theft by common scheme. Police allege the scamming started in 2003 and continued until recently.

Authorities were alerted to the situation as the woman was getting evicted for not paying fees at her nursing home. Court documents say Hughes, who met the woman when she hired him to work around her former home and later became friends with her, has power of attorney and controlled her finances.

An adult protective services worker learned the woman had about $434,000 in her account when Hughes took over her finances in 2003, according to documents. She also received about $1,600 a month. The woman ran out of money to pay for her housing and care in December.

Last month, police received bank records showing Hughes allegedly wrote a significant number of checks for cash and to casinos. Court documents note the 81-year-old was in a wheelchair and rarely left her residence. Hughes is also accused of using the woman's checks to eat fast food and give money to his relatives.

Authorities said although some of the checks were written for goods and services for the woman, "there is no accounting for the disappearance of more than $400,000."

Following the investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Hughes on Friday. He made his initial appearance on the charges Tuesday.  

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East Helena man accused of stealing $400,000 in elderly exploitation case

Hollywood broker cleared in elderly exploitation case

A Hollywood stockbroker convicted of conning a 95-year-old woman into signing over her $10 million estate was exonerated Wednesday by an appeals court.

Cynthia Franke, 54, began serving a seven-year prison term in 2013 following her conviction, but the Fourth District Court of Appeal determined that the jury got it wrong.

"Because the state's evidence was not inconsistent with her theory of innocence, we reverse," the appeals court ruled.

Franke was overcome with emotion during a telephone interview Wednesday, saying only that she feels "better now." She served less than two months in prison before being released on bond pending the outcome of her appeal.

Franke and Mary Teris had been friends for 30 years. Franke had prepared a special needs trust for Teris' two sons in 1996.

In 2008, Teris asked Franke to change her trust, ultimately having a lawyer switch the trustee and beneficiary to Franke. Teris then named a co-trustee so that Franke could avoid a conflict of interest.

But Teris, now 101, allegedly suffered from dementia, and Franke was accused of taking advantage of her condition to enrich herself.

Franke and her husband, Tyrone Javellana, were charged, tried, convicted and sentenced together. But Javellana's conviction was overturned in June. He faced a related accusation involving Teris' sister, but that charge was dropped last month.

"It is a huge relief," Javellana said Wednesday. "It was six years of an unbelievable nightmare that's been lifted off our shoulders."

Franke's friend and colleague, Alicia Brown Beloyan, said Franke was in tears much of the day. "It's not sinking into her mind that this is over after six years," she said.

After the charges were filed, Franke lost her job with the Laidlaw and Company brokerage firm and was stripped of her license as a broker. She has not decided what to do with her career, Javellana said.

"We're not certain what her next step will be, but at least this exoneration clears her name," he said.

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Hollywood broker cleared in elderly exploitation case