Farwell Man Charged with Embezzling over $400,000 from 82-Year-Old

March 18, 2026

LANSING – Yesterday, Phillip Lee Sprague, 62, of Farwell, was arraigned in front of Magistrate Steven R. Worpell, Jr. of the 80^th District Court in Harrison on one count of Embezzlement by an Agent $100,000 or More, a 20-year felony, and two counts of Embezzlement by an Agent $50,000 or More but Less Than $100,000, each a 15-year felony, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. It is alleged that Sprague embezzled from an 82-year-old victim who had sustained a traumatic brain injury.

Sprague allegedly obtained more than $400,000 of assets from the victim. Of that, more than $300,000 was reportedly obtained through changes the victim made to his Will and Trust to benefit the defendant instead of the victim’s children and grandchildren.

“While the majority of caregivers support adults in their care, my office will not tolerate those who steal from the very people they are meant to protect from such exploitation,” said Attorney General Nessel. “We remain committed to seeking justice for vulnerable victims and their families.”

A Probable Cause Conference has not yet been set.

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Please note: For all criminal proceedings, a criminal charge is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Department does not provide booking photos.

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Farwell Man Charged with Embezzling over $400,000 from 82-Year-Old 

Online scam costs elderly South Windsor victim nearly $50k

Story by Rob Polansky

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT (WFSB) - An elderly man in South Windsor fell victim to an online scam, police said.

It led to the arrest of 42-year-old Qiao Zheng of Brooklyn, NY on Thursday.

Police said they started to investigate a fraud complaint that was made by the 90-year-old victim on Monday.

The victim reported that he gave $49,900 in cash to a courier after he received an email from someone who claimed to work for PayPal.

The email indicated that a transaction purchase for Bitcoin had flagged the victim’s PayPal account.

After the victim contacted a “support number” in the email, a suspect accessed the victim’s computer through a fraudulent link. He requested that money be transferred into a separate account.

When that didn’t work, police said the victim withdrew the money at various bank branches for the courier to pick up at the victim’s home.

Upon being notified of the incident, South Windsor police were present in the area of the victim’s home after the suspect contacted the victim for another $20,000 and indicated a courier would arrive to pick it up in the early afternoon hours on Thursday.

A man identified as Qiao arrived and was arrested, police said.

Police charged Qiao with conspiracy to commit second-degree. He was held on a $100,000 surety bond and scheduled to appear in Manchester Superior Court on Friday morning.

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Online scam costs elderly South Windsor victim nearly $50k

Housekeeper Turned Caregiver Accused of Stealing Over $205K from Elderly Victim

St. Petersburg detectives have arrested Delorse Boyd, 65, on charges of 1st Degree Elderly Exploitation after allegedly stealing approximately $205,762.60 from a disabled, wheelchair-bound elderly victim over several years.

The victim, who was 79 years old when the exploitation began, initially hired Boyd as a housekeeper. After undergoing surgery, the victim hired 24/7 home healthcare services and no longer required Boyd’s cleaning assistance. Boyd then took on responsibilities such as grocery shopping, bill payments, and picking up medications for the victim. Boyd was entrusted with the victim’s credit cards and checkbook during this time.

Between July 7, 2017, and September 1, 2021, Boyd allegedly wrote 176 unauthorized checks, using the funds to withdraw cash, make deposits into her own account, and pay personal bills. She also used the victim’s credit card for purchases totaling $20,045.58, including appliances, utility bills, ride-shares, phone bills, online orders, and travel expenses.

Investigators discovered that Boyd even wrote a $3,517.02 check from the victim’s account to the Pinellas County Clerk of Court to settle her own criminal and traffic offenses, including fines and tickets.

The financial exploitation was uncovered when the victim’s bank noticed suspicious transactions and reported them to law enforcement. The victim, now approximately 83 years old, suffered the theft of a significant portion of her finances during her vulnerable years.

St. Petersburg Economic Crimes detectives emphasize the importance of protecting oneself or loved ones from elderly financial exploitation. They provided these tips:

• Carefully select and appoint a Power of Attorney.
• Consult a trusted advisor before making financial decisions.
• Regularly check credit reports and review financial statements, especially for joint accounts.

The investigation remains ongoing as Boyd faces prosecution for her actions.

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Housekeeper Turned Caregiver Accused of Stealing Over $205K from Elderly Victim

Bessemer man charged in elder fraud scheme

A 47-year-old man from Bessemer has been charged in a fraud scheme that involves an elderly family member.

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Bessemer man charged in elder fraud scheme

Montcalm Co. Woman Convicted for Stealing from Elderly Woman

A Montcalm County woman charged with embezzling thousands from a 90-year-old woman was convicted following a jury trial, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Thursday.

Teri Miller, 58, of Edmore was charged in 2020 with the following:

• one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult, between $50,000 and $100,000;
• one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult, $1,000 or more but less than $20,000;
• one count of using a computer to commit a crime; three counts of using a financial transaction device without consent; and
• one count of tax – failure to file.

On Thursday, a jury found Miller guilty on all counts after spending less than a day deliberating. Miller’s bond was revoked and she has been taken into custody.

Miller was also charged with one count resisting and obstructing a police officer, which stems from her arrest on the embezzlement charges.  That charge is currently pending in a separate case.

“Protecting Michigan’s most vulnerable adults has been a top priority for me,” Nessel said. “This guilty verdict is a win in the fight against elder abuse in our state, and I appreciate the work done by our partners in Montcalm County that helped build this case.”

Miller’s husband, Kelly Miller, along with her brother Tim Riva were also charged in connection to the embezzlement.

Both Miller and Riva pleaded no contest in Feb.

Riva pleaded no contest to one count receiving stolen property, $200 or more but less than $1,000 and one count embezzlement from a vulnerable adult, $200 or more but less than $1,000.

As a term of the plea agreement, Riva will pay $2,000 in restitution at or before sentencing.

Kelly Miller pleaded no contest to two counts of receiving or concealing stolen property, $200 or more but less than $1,000. Miller also agreed to a $2,700 restitution order.

A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.

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Montcalm Co. Woman Convicted for Stealing from Elderly Woman

Digging Deeper: Police suspect inside job in $190K fraud of elderly victim

TUCSON – There were nearly 11,000 cases involving vulnerable adults in Arizona reported to the Department of Economic Security.

Twenty-two percent of those cases had to do with financial exploitation.

Tucson Police Department detectives are currently investigating a case of financial abuse of an elderly man who suffered from dementia.

The Digging Deeper Team uncovered a search warrant that revealed some disturbing information about the case.

According to Tucson Police, 84-year-old Robert Ouellette was allegedly taken advantage of by an employee who worked at a local credit union.

News 4 Tucson is not naming that person because they have not been formally charged with a crime.

However, the search warrant stated Tucson Police was investigating the crimes of theft, fraud schemes, computer tampering and forgery.

Ouellette lived alone in the Campbell Estates Mobile Home community for 20 years, but died four months ago from injuries he received in a car accident.

Fred Thorpe was the victim’s friend and neighbor.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Thorpe. “I mean the guy was such a nice fellow, probably why they took advantage of him.”

According to the court document, the crimes were believed to have been committed around February 2018 to July 2019.

The search warrant also stated that the suspect was employed at a credit union and was responsible for assisting customers with financial transactions.

The warrant goes on to say the employee took advantage of his position and conducted fraudulent transactions and theft from Robert Ouellette.

The employee allegedly stole from Ouellette’s accounts at the credit union and other bank accounts.

The theft is estimated at $190,000.

Ouellette was a devout Catholic who attended mass at Sacred Heart every morning.

Friends and family of Oullette said he lived a simple life and spent money on necessities and charity donations.

The Digging Deeper Team contacted his niece, Mary Peters, in Michigan.

“He was really a cheerful man, he was always good-hearted and in good spirits,” said Peters as she remembered her Uncle Bob.

Peters is also the executor of Ouellette’s estate.

Peters said family members started noticing changes in 2017.

“I started getting calls from the trailer court where he lived he wasn’t paying his rent. That’s not Uncle Bob,” Peters recalled to News 4 Tucson.

Ouellette was formally diagnosed with dementia in April.

The search warrant stated that Adult Protective Services began an investigation last March.

Records were also subpoenaed from Ouellette’s bank.

It showed transactions to online retailers, utility and cell phone, and the suspect’s credit card account.

Investigators say those transactions were out of character for the elderly victim.

When Peters learned her uncle was missing nearly $200,000 from his account and that the money ended up in the suspect’s accounts, she was shocked.

“They should go to jail. Do not pass Go,” Peters told News 4 Tucson.

News 4 Tucson made repeated requests to TPD to comment about their investigation.

The department repeatedly declined and said it was an ongoing investigation.

To file a report with Arizona Adult Protective Services call 1-877-SOS-ADULT (1-877-767-2385) or a report online can be made here.

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Digging Deeper: Police suspect inside job in $190K fraud of elderly victim

A Utah woman refused to sell her vacant house to a neighbor. Police say he moved in anyway.

By Scott D. Pierce

A Salt Lake City man who refused to take no for an answer when a woman declined his lowball offer to buy her house faces multiple charges after he claimed the property as his own.

In charges filed last week, prosecutors wrote that police first were called to the house at 737 E. Roosevelt Ave. on Aug. 30 when someone reported a “belligerent person” was inside and was taking things without the owner’s permission. The officer told the man not to reenter or make modifications to the house.

The next day, police were called again and found tools and an open window at the house; prosecutors wrote that the same man admitted he had opened the window, that he did not have permission to be there and that he had previously been warned by police. He was given another warning.

On Sept. 11, police again were called to the home when a neighbor reported a possible burglary. Again they found the man on the property, prosecutors wrote. He admitted he had cut down trees, shrubs and bushes; removed a refrigerator from the house; and installed new deadbolts, police wrote. According to police, items had been removed from the home.

The man told police he’d written to the homeowner offering $90,000 for the house — “an amount which is not reasonable for that area and that market,” prosecutors wrote. According to Salt Lake County assessor’s records, the market value of the home is more than $363,000.

When the man did not receive a response to his offer, he went to the woman’s current home, prosecutors wrote. She refused to sell him the house and later told police the man threatened her and told her “he would forge any document needed to get the property from her,” the charges state. She told police she had removed nothing from the house and that her keys no longer worked in the locks, prosecutors wrote.

“The victim in this case, who is an elderly woman, has expressed fear to the police about what the defendant may do,” police wrote.

Police once again told the man not to enter the house and sent him a follow-up email with the same warning. In an email reply that day, the man admitted he’d locked the gate to the house with his own chain and lock.

A day later, the man sent the officer another email, writing that he wanted to remove more plants from the yard “just as long as it builds my case to gaining title to the house,” according to the charges. He also admitted he removed the contents of the home; removed the wood covering a broken window; and “upgraded” the deadbolts.

The man also asked for the police officer’s help to get the water turned on at the house, “complaining … that they wouldn’t turn the water on until he could prove that he owned the property,” prosecutors wrote.

On Sept. 20, he sent an email to police admitting he left the lights on at the house; put mulch in the yard and put air in the tires of the vehicles in the driveway, according to the charges.

Other neighbors told police they had seen the man coming and going from the house, removing items and working in the yard — and that he claimed to have bought the house for $5,000, charges state. One neighbor said he helped remove the refrigerator after the man convinced him he owned the house. Another said the man showed her “a large collection of CDs in his own house … that he had taken from the 737 residence,” prosecutors wrote.

According to neighbors, the man said he had contacted Rocky Mountain Power and gotten the electricity turned on to an account he controls, and he was “thinking about finding a way to get the water” turned on “by forging a note” from the owner, prosecutors wrote.

According to the charges, the man signed an application Aug. 30 for water service in which he “purports to be the owner” of the home.

The man was charged with burglary and forgery, both third-degree felonies; class A misdemeanor stalking; and theft, criminal mischief and three counts of criminal trespass, all class B misdemeanors. A warrant for the man’s arrest was issued on Friday; as of Monday morning, he was not in custody.

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A Utah woman refused to sell her vacant house to a neighbor. Police say he moved in anyway.

Another elderly victim gets soaked by Scientology, is talking to law enforcement

[Scene of the crime, the Advanced Org of Los Angeles (AOLA)]

Last summer, we told you about a shocking case of elder abuse involving a man named Efrem Logreira. He had joined Scientology at the age of 74, and a year later he was almost homeless because Scientology had burdened him with so much debt and then refused to refund him or allow him to attend its events.

After we began speaking to Efrem, and after he also spoke to law enforcement, Scientology suddenly wanted to pay him back at least part of what he said they owed him. And we could certainly understand why. Using various means of cajoling him — including an ice cream date with three young women which Efrem caught on camera — Scientology convinced him to fork over tens of thousands of dollars for counseling that he would never use. The church seemed to realize that such a blatant rip-off of a senior was extreme even by Scientology standards. We have not spoken to Efrem in some time, but we have an update on him that we’ll save for the coda to this story.

A few weeks ago we got a tip from one of our longtime sources, and learned that nearly the same thing has happened again. But this time, the 82-year-old victim wasn’t new to Scientology.

She had been in it for more than fifty years.

The subject of this story wants very badly to tell her story on the record, but she is concerned about how her family will be affected, and so for now she asked that we not identify her. However, she was very cooperative, sent us documentation, and said she is still hoping to identify herself later on.

Her story is deeply disturbing.

She’s a delightful woman from the Midwest who fell into Scientology in the late 1960s and even joined the Sea Org in 1974, working for a time under Yvonne Jentzsch at the original Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles. But eventually she left the SO and returned home.

She was still passionately devoted to L. Ron Hubbard and the “tech,” and believed that it had the potential to perform miracles — she was convinced that she had lived into her 80s with no health issues because of her involvement in Scientology.

Her one real problem was that she was very hard of hearing. So she was interested when two “missionaires” visited her last March, telling her that she should go to Los Angeles for Scientology auditing that would improve her hearing.

Even with her faith in the tech, she regrets being taken in by the pitch. “I should know better,” she says. But she decided to go.

“They asked me for $3,500 for an intensive in LA to get my hearing back. And $300 for six days in the hotel there, at $50 a day — which turned out being $75 a day.” When she balked at the overall cost, one of the missionaires offered to pay for her flight. (An “intensive” is a block of 12.5 hours of auditing, Scientology’s brand of counseling.)

In Los Angeles, she did the auditing at the Advanced Org, AOLA, and she says she enjoyed it. “I thought I was doing better. I was having wins. I was excited,” she says. (Later, when she returned home, she had herself tested and was disappointed to learn that she had lost another four percent of her hearing.)

On her second day, however, she was asked to meet with some of Scientology’s very persistent fundraisers, known as “registrars.”

“They put me in a room for five hours. ‘You want to go up the Bridge,’ they said. I said I can’t afford it. ‘If we can find you a way, will you do it? We’ll get you a line of credit,’ they said. So, OK, we’ll get a line of credit.”

One of the people pestering her, a man named Morgan, was using a laptop computer the entire time, she says. She found out later that Morgan was applying for credit on her behalf, using all of her private information they had on file. “They said I was the one on the computer. Then they had me sign a paper — ah, I was so stupid I signed whatever they gave me.”

They escorted her from AOLA to a local bank to complete the transaction. “They had all of my information. My Social Security Number, my mother’s maiden name. So the bank said it was a proper transaction.”

At some point, she says, one of the other registrars asked for her smartphone, saying that he wanted to put the Scientology TV app on it. “I thought I was getting a letter of credit. But what it turned out to be was three credit cards. I only later realized that what he actually did with my phone was activate the three cards.”

At the time, she was just glad the “regging” session was over. She assumed that a letter of credit was something she could draw on later, and wasn’t an issue at the time. She went on with her auditing.

As the week came to a close, she was looking forward to going home. But as her return date neared, she realized that they had other ideas. “They didn’t want to lose the stat. There were very few people there. They didn’t want anyone to leave.”

They wanted her to draw on her credit to buy many more intensives of auditing. She was told that what she really needed was another 23 intensives, or 287 hours in total of counseling.

She just wanted to go home. By 1:30 pm on her final day, she had completed a routing form except for one final signature, showing that she had completed what she came to do. “For hours and hours, they worked on me, trying to get me to stay.”

She sat in the Advanced Org, and sat. At 11:30 pm, she decided that she was going to walk out.

“I said I was going home. They all surrounded me, walking me down the front of the building. They wanted me to go to Ethics. But I went to the hotel, and they followed me. A little later, at 12:30, they called me in my room, saying that I had to come by in the morning at 8:30.”

She then learned to her surprise that her flight reservation the next day was still intact. (She assumed they would have changed it to keep her there.) At about 4:30 am, she put on as many sets of clothes as she thought she could get away with, and made her way to the lobby. She knew that she had to leave her luggage behind.

“The only way I could leave was to pretend I was going for a walk. I walked down the block, and I found some men who looked sketchy. I went into a Motel 6 or something and asked the guy behind the counter to call Uber for me.” Within minutes her ride picked her up and went to the airport. “I was shaking like crazy.”

She got home without incident. But then, she finally discovered that it wasn’t a letter of credit she had obtained, but three credit cards — and a balance of $59,500.

“I had no idea until I got home. Two of the cards arrived in the mail, the third one never arrived. I took the two down to our local church,” she says. She complained, but she was told that she had approved the transaction. “I never said yes. I don’t have that kind of money,” she insisted.

Meanwhile, she went to her bank, reporting the transaction to the fraud department.

“The bank decided it wasn’t fraud,” she says. “I went to everyone I could think of. I appealed the decision. They said it would go to the executive office, the highest it could go. In November, they said they would call me the next day. I never heard from them again.”

She also sent letters to local law enforcement, and even to the attorney general of her state. Again, she got nowhere.

But in the meantime, one thing she was sure of: She was no longer a member of the Church of Scientology.

“My kids are happy that I’m out. They’ve been very supportive.” At one point, when she told them she was trying to get her money back from Scientology and would probably be the subject of harassment, she said she planned to leave town so they wouldn’t be targeted as well. But they immediately drove over and told her not to leave.

“I was afraid of them. I’m not as afraid now. But I was still a Scientologist — until I got home and found out what they had done. It gradually dawned on me what they did. I’d been brainwashed. I’m still working on it.”

A couple of weeks after our initial conversation, we checked back with her and she told us that she was very pleased: She had just spoken to another law enforcement agency that seemed very interested in what she had been through, and asked for copies of her documentation.

We hope something comes of it.

CODA: Now, that update we promised. We heard last night from Graham Berry, whom we first wrote about almost 20 years ago (wow, how time flies). He sent us this happy dispatch…

“I am pleased to inform you that I successfully represented Efrem Logreira in his claim against the church. A confidential settlement agreement permits me to state that Logreira’s dispute with the church has been resolved to the parties’ mutual satisfaction. Consequently, Efrem is doing very much better and his situation is greatly improved.”

Wow, that’s good to hear. And Graham had another update for us that he asked us to relate to our readers…

“I am now preparing another pre-litigation demand letter in connection with a similar situation to the one Efrem described and endured. If it must go to litigation it will be worth substantial damages. It should also be worth an award of punitive damages. However, a plaintiff who wishes to sue a California religious corporation for punitive damages must make an early showing of merit. To that end, I would very much like to hear from anyone who, during the last five years, signed up for Scientology books, courses or auditing with bank loans, overdrafts, credit cards, or other forms of loan or credit; particularly where a staffer has assisted with the opening of new credit cards or obtaining increased credit card or overdraft limits. I can be DM’d on Facebook, emailed on grahamberryesq@gmail.com, telephoned at (310) 745-3771, texted at (310) 902-6381. I also have an encrypted account at Hushmail.com.”

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Another elderly victim gets soaked by Scientology, is talking to law enforcement