ResCare worker facing multiple charges for using resident’s bank card

By Grace Koennecke 

LOGAN COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A woman from Logan County is facing multiple charges, including financial exploitation of the elderly/incapacitated adult, according to a criminal complaint.

On February 13, a complaint was received from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office about a ResCare Community Living worker stealing money from a resident.

Deputies stated they talked with the executive director of ResCare. The executive director stated the resident was currently admitted into the Mildred Mitchell Bateman Hospital and had been there since around December 20, 2025.

The criminal complaint states after further investigation, deputies found that the resident’s bank card had been used on multiple occasions by the ResCare worker.

Deputies also found that since December 20, 2025, various transactions had been made on the resident’s card between Walmart, Kroger, Dollar Tree and Speedway, totaling under $2,000 in fraudulent transactions that can be proven at this time.

According to the criminal complaint, the ResCare worker purchased items not consistent with the well-being of the resident and was observed obtaining money from the transactions as cash back on multiple occasions.

Deputies were able to obtain E-Witness Evidence from the locations where the ResCare worker was seen using a green in color card that was consistent with the dates and times of the purchases on the resident’s card.

Deputies stated they found a transaction the ResCare worker made at Walmart where she used her phone to pay and the charge went onto the resident’s card.

The criminal complaint states deputies also discovered that the resident received a weekly allowance provided by ResCare, totaling $10 on a check.

The ResCare worker, Brooke Vance, was arrested and charged with financial exploitation of the elderly/incapacitated adult, forgery & uttering, fraudulent use of an access device, grand larceny, obtaining money by false pretenses, and fraudulent schemes.

Vance is currently out on bond.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 5 at 10:30 a.m. 

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ResCare worker facing multiple charges for using resident’s bank card 

Elderly Victims Defrauded of Over $100,000 in Wire Fraud Scheme: A Disturbing Trend

By Alan Caldwell

Camden, N.J. – Elderly individuals have become the unfortunate targets of a rising trend in fraudulent schemes, as exemplified by the recent case of Victoria Crosby. U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today that Crosby, a resident of Atlantic City, New Jersey, admitted to engaging in wire fraud and defrauding elderly victims of over $100,000. The scheme involved exploiting vulnerable individuals who had recently lost their spouses or family members.

Using a prepaid cellular phone, Crosby would contact these grieving victims, posing as an employee from a retirement benefit office or a life insurance company. Taking advantage of their vulnerable state, Crosby would inform them that their deceased family member’s life insurance policy was in arrears. To rectify this, victims were coerced into purchasing prepaid cards, providing Crosby with the 10-digit codes on the back.

Once Crosby had access to the codes, she swiftly transferred the funds from the victims’ prepaid card accounts to her own. Furthermore, she withdrew the ill-gotten money from various ATMs across Atlantic City and neighboring areas. This calculated scheme allowed Crosby to fraudulently accumulate $110,380 into her bank account between January and December 2020.

This distressing case took an even more disheartening turn, as it was revealed that Crosby was receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits from the Social Security Administration, Medicaid Benefits, and living in public housing in Atlantic City with housing assistance through HUD’s Public and Indian Housing Program. Had agencies such as the SSA or HUD been aware of her income, Crosby would have been rendered ineligible for these government assistance programs.

The consequences of such fraudulent activities are severe. Crosby now faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater. Sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2024.

This case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of safeguarding our elderly population from financial exploitation. It highlights the need for increased awareness, vigilance, and protective measures in place to prevent individuals like Crosby from targeting our most vulnerable citizens.

FAQ:

1. What is wire fraud?

Wire fraud refers to any fraudulent scheme that involves electronic communication, such as phone calls or emails, to deceive victims and manipulate financial transactions.

2. How can I protect myself or a loved one from falling victim to similar schemes?

Some measures to protect against fraud include being cautious when sharing personal information, verifying the legitimacy of any unexpected requests for funds or sensitive information, and staying informed about common types of scams targeting the elderly.

3. What should I do if I suspect someone is being targeted by a fraudster?

If you suspect someone is being targeted, it is important to report it to local law enforcement and relevant authorities, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the local branch of the Social Security Administration.

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Elderly Victims Defrauded of Over $100,000 in Wire Fraud Scheme: A Disturbing Trend

Fraud victimization tied to elevated BP in older men

By Regina Schaffer

Melissa Lamar

Older men without dementia who self-reported fraud victimization were more likely to experience significant increases in BP over time compared with men who did not report being victims of fraud, researchers reported.

Approximately 5 million older Americans per year experience financial exploitation, fraudulent schemes or scams, and financial losses are difficult for older adults to recover due to limited earning opportunities and shorter time horizons, Melissa Lamar, PhD, professor and clinical neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago, and colleagues wrote in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. In addition to economic consequences, data show elder fraud may be associated with increased hospitalizations, admittance to skilled nursing facilities and lower 5-year survival rates.

‘Important public health consequences’

“These findings show that fraud victimization has important public health consequences and underscore the need for efforts to prevent exploitation,” Lamar told Healio. “Our work points toward the need to consider more stringent BP monitoring in older men after incident fraud victimization. We also need to expand this work to include greater racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity.”

Lamar and colleagues analyzed data from 1,211 older adults participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, an ongoing cohort study on aging initiated in 1997 (mean age, 80 years; 75% women). A substudy introduced in 2010 included an annual assessment of fraud victimization. The decision-making assessment included a question asking participants if, in the past year, they were a victim of financial fraud or were told they were a victim of financial fraud. During up to 11 years of annual observation, participants also underwent serial BP measurements to calculate per visit averages of systolic and diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and pulse pressure. Researchers examined cross-sectional associations between baseline fraud victimization and BP, and then used longitudinal data to test the hypothesis that fraud victimization is associated with increases in BP after incident fraud.

Within the cohort, 83 participants reported experiencing fraud victimization.

In adjusted models, researchers found that fraud victimization was associated with increased systolic BP (P = .04), diastolic BP (P = .007), and MAP (P = .01) compared with non-victimization. Fraud victimization was not associated with pulse pressure.

In longitudinal change point analyses, researchers found that fraud victimization was associated with elevations in BP among men but not women.

“For example, compared to pre-fraud BP levels for women, men showed an additional annual pre-fraud decline in systolic BP of 0.6 mm Hg, resulting in a total estimated annual rate of decline of 0.87 mm Hg,” the researchers wrote. “In addition, the annual rate of change in BP increased by an estimated 1.46 mm Hg post-fraud. Similar post-fraud increases were seen for the other BP metrics.”

Role of emotional dysregulation

Older adults who are victims of fraud may develop elevations in BP either directly or indirectly due in part to concomitant emotional dysregulation shown to be associated with fraud victimization, including increased stress, anger and anxiety, the researchers wrote.

“In fact, more than half of financial fraud victims (53%) report experiencing socioemotional problems involving moderate to severe levels of distress,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers noted that the study was conducted in an almost exclusively non-Hispanic white population of fraud victims and non-victims, with most reporting high levels of education, adding that more research is needed on fraud victimization among underrepresented groups while factoring in neighborhood deprivation status and social determinants of health.

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Fraud victimization tied to elevated BP in older men

Father and son again charged with fraudulent schemes, financial exploitation

Tarmon, Jr.

CHARLES TOWN — A local father and son have been charged again after allegedly collecting money from homeowners for projects that were either not completed or done poorly, according to Jefferson County Magistrate Court documents.

Frederick Lee Tarmon, Sr., 47, of West King Street, Martinsburg, was charged with two felony counts of fraudulent schemes, two counts of conspiracy to commit fraudulent schemes, one count of financial exploitation of elderly and one count of conspiracy to commit financial exploitation of elderly.

Tarmon

Frederick Lee Tarmon, Jr., 25, of Cider Lane, Ranson, was charged with felony financial exploitation of elderly, conspiracy to commit financial exploitation of elderly, fraudulent schemes and conspiracy to commit fraudulent schemes.

According to court documents, the Tarmons, further known as Tarmon and Son Complete Handyman Services LLC, have been allegedly conducting contracted services in and around Charles Town since at least May despite a permanent civil junction suspending their West Virginia license.

On the afternoon of June 20, Cpl. M.D. Gillmore with the Charles Town detachment of the West Virginia State Police received a possible fraud complaint from an 87-year-old victim, court records said.

The victim said things began on or about May 28 when a male, alleged to be Tarmon Jr., came to her home to inquire about doing work for her, according to court records. She first allowed him to fix a “small” leak coming from a faucet.

“(She) stated he seemed like a very trustworthy young man,” the complaint said.

When returning to do the work, Tarmon Jr. brought Tarmon Sr., who he alleged to be his older brother, court records said.

After fixing the faucet, Tarmon Jr. allegedly said he was afraid the leak may have caused further damage to the floor and asked to check the basement ceiling. When he did, he allegedly observed severe damage.

“She stated she was scared because he made it sound like the floor was going to fall apart and agreed to have him return to fix the floor,” the complaint said.

On May 30, the men allegedly returned to the victim’s home, replaced some boards in the floor and sealed basement walls due to leaks, court records said. While at the home this day, Tarmon Jr. stated he saw a squirrel going into her (attic) and was afraid it may be damaging her ceiling and chewing on wires.

On May 31, Tarmon Sr. allegedly told the victim that the squirrels chewed on her wires which could cause a fire if it wasn’t fixed, records said. Scared of a fire, the victim said she allowed them to do the work.

According to court documents, on June 3, the men returned and informed the victim they discovered a missing bill and that she owed them another $714.75. The victim told police she paid them because she was “scared about what they might do if she refused.”

Court documents allege the victim paid the Tarmon’s $3,262.75 in total.

The victim told police she became wary about it all after speaking with her mail carrier about the work completed, court records said. The carrier allegedly was familiar with another fraud case in which a Frederick Lee Tarmon was a suspect. She was able to identify the men from photos in a newspaper article.

Trooper Gillmore went to the victim’s home to investigate the alleged work done, according to court records. In the basement, the trooper observed approximately three 2-foot-by-4-foot pieces of wood “crudely” nailed to the sides of the floor joists. He also observed several smear marks of a black roofers cement on the walls but no water damage signs.

Gillmore said in the complaint that the victim was charged $1,273 for this project, but the materials only cost around $13 at Home Depot. Gillmore said he was unable to observe any evidence of anything done to the victim’s attic. She was charged $1,314.75 for this alleged work.

When arrested for these allegations, Tarmon Jr. had already been arrested for similar charges stemming from the Charles Town Police Department, police said.

The victim in the city police’s investigation said in December, she was visiting a friend when Tarmon Jr. was working the residence’s roof, according to court records. Tarmon Jr. allegedly provided his contact information to the individual who advised she had some light contracting services.

The victim provided police with a contract dated Dec. 29 for $1,475 worth of work to facia boards on the roof, court records said. She was allegedly requested to make the check payable to “Lee Tarmon.” She also alleged she was never provided receipts for purchased materials.

On Dec. 31, Tarmon Jr. allegedly advised a flashing around the chimney also needed replaced and the victim wrote out a check for the work for $650, court records said. The complaint notes that at this time still no work had been completed. On Jan. 1, Tarmon Jr. alleged the soffits and T channels needed completely replaced for $1,500.

On Jan. 4 the Tarmons and other individuals, records said, “finally” began the work they were contracted to do. However, no city or state contracting license had been attained. The victim then advised work halted for approximately two weeks, and she did not receive any returned phone calls when inquiring about the work. Work allegedly began again after the victim left a voicemail stating she had called the police.

During this time frame, the complaint said, the victim allegedly received a text message from someone who knows Tarmon Jr. advised her to be careful because they were not to be doing any work and to “be careful what you pay them.”

Throughout January and the beginning of February, the Tarmons continued to ask the victim for cost of labor and for additional materials which were allegedly needed, court records said. The complaint lists approximately $5,000 in payments to the Tarmons.

On July 19, Detective A.J. Meeks with the Charles Town Police Department said in the complaint that she met the victim along with a city inspector and a general contractor at her residence to observe the work. It was advised by the contractor, in his opinion, that things were not properly installed, wrong materials were used in some instances and it appeared old materials were used in some instances.

On July 23, Tarmon Jr. was arrested on a warrant and consented to an interview with police, court records said.

“Tarmon Jr. advised he grew up working contracting jobs with his father, Tarmon Sr., and his dad taught him to seek work from the elderly because they are the ones who normally require more work on their residences, and they always pay what is charged,” the complaint said.

Meeks said in a complaint that since she was aware of other similar allegations in the past, she contacted a State’s Attorney General Investigator to inform him of these recent cases. Meeks also noted the December 2017 civil injunction prevented the defendants from indefinitely conducting any and all contracting services in the state of West Virginia.

Tarmon Jr. allegedly told police he was unaware of the injunction against the company, court records said. He also told police the previous charges against him were dismissed, and his father was on probation. Finally, he allegedly admitted to some of the allegations against them.

According to a previous Journal article, Tarmon Sr. pleaded guilty in December 2017 to felony obtaining money by false pretenses involving more than $38,000 of home improvement that he was paid for but did not complete for seven consumers in the Eastern Panhandle.

In this case, as well, he had solicited contracting work under two business names — Tarmon and Sons as well as Complete Handyman Service, according to court records. The fraud charges involve business transactions that took place in 2015.

Tarmon Jr. is incarcerated in the Eastern Regional Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $77,500, according to jail records. Tarmon Sr. is incarcerated in lieu of bonds totaling $100,600. He is also being held on a probation violation.

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Father and son again charged with fraudulent schemes, financial exploitation

A 94-year-old befriended her hair stylist. It cost her $300,000.

The 94-year-old woman and her hair stylist had been friends for 20 years.

Such good friends, in fact, that when the Tucson, Ariz. woman’s husband died in 2011, hair stylist Supranom “Addy” Klos was given power of attorney, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

But then, in 2014, money started to disappear from the 94-year-old’s life savings. Eventually nearly all of the woman’s savings — some $300,000 — had vanished, prosecutors said. And it was Klos who was stealing it.

It took Klos only months to gamble away nearly all of her friend and client’s life savings, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said.

And it took an Arizona jury only about two hours to find Klos guilty, convicting the hair stylist on one count of fraudulent schemes, three counts of theft, one count of fraudulent use of a credit card and one count of unlawful use of power of attorney.

Brnovich described the 94-year-old as a vulnerable adult with dementia.

What Klos didn’t spend on gambling, she spent on dental implants and a new car, according to the attorney general.

Klos was taken into custody after the verdict, the attorney general said. She will be sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison.

One in six vulnerable adults is victimized to such an extent that he or she loses a third — or more — of his or her assets, according to the Arizona attorney general. Emotional damage from being the victim of those crimes can shave as much as three years off a victim’s life.

Fraud and exploitation victimizing seniors is an expensive — and expanding — problem.

“Financial fraud targeting older Americans is a growing epidemic that costs seniors an estimated $2.9 billion annually,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.), chair of the Senate Aging Committee, said earlier this year as she introduced a bipartisan bill to protect seniors from fraud.

Law enforcement became involved in the Arizona case when the woman’s bank noticed large sums of money withdrawn from the 94-year-old’s savings account, prosecutors said.

Hundreds of thousands of older Americans fall victim to fraud, financial scams and abuse each year, according to Collins.

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A 94-year-old befriended her hair stylist. It cost her $300,000.