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 

Three home health aides stole $173K from elderly woman in Suffolk, DA says

by Brian Harmon

Prosecutors say three home health aides stole nearly $173,000 from an 84-year-old woman in their care, leading to their arrest on grand larceny and identity theft charges, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said Danielle Guarino, 55, of Coram, along with Teresa Garcia, 53, and Mamerta Gonzalez, 72, both of Ridge, were charged following an investigation into the alleged financial exploitation of the elderly victim. The patient received care from the defendants between October 2019 and January 2022.

Prosecutors said that as the victim’s physical limitations increased, she was no longer able to write checks to pay her caregivers or household bills. The victim’s daughter then began signing blank checks and giving them to Guarino to complete.

Authorities allege Guarino wrote checks to herself, Garcia and Gonzalez in amounts exceeding the hours reported on timesheets submitted to the victim’s long-term disability insurance provider.

Investigators allege Guarino wrote checks totaling $160,712 beyond what was recorded on timesheets, including about $110,000 for herself, $43,560 for Garcia, and $7,152 for Gonzalez.

Tierney said further that Guarino failed to accurately record payees and dollar amounts in the victim’s manual check register in an effort to hide the alleged theft.

Authorities additionally alleged that between September 2019 and January 2022, Guarino used the victim’s credit cards without authorization to make $12,245 in Amazon purchases and then used the signed blank checks to pay the resulting credit card bills.

In total, $172,957 was stolen from the victim’s bank account.

Garcia was arraigned last Thursday before Suffolk County District Court Judge Bernard Cheng on a charge of third-degree grand larceny; she was released on her own recognizance. Gonzalez was arraigned on Friday on the same charge and also released without having to post bail.

Guarino was arraigned Wednesday before District Court Judge Evan Zuckerman on charges of second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny and first-degree identity theft. She too was released on her own recognizance.

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Three home health aides stole $173K from elderly woman in Suffolk, DA says 

Grand Larceny Investigation Leads to Arrest in Chemung County

Press Release

On February 25, 2025, the New York State Police at SP Horseheads were contacted regarding a report of a case of elder financial abuse involving the theft of nearly $92,000 from the victim's bank accounts.

Following a thorough investigation, it was determined the suspect, Steven R. Padgett, age 57, of North Carolina, unlawfully accessed the bank accounts of his elderly parents, making fraudulent purchases and unauthorized ATM withdrawals totaling $91,995.37. The victims were identified as vulnerable elderly individuals.

On June 6, 2025, Padgett was arrested for Grand Larceny 2nd (C Felony). Padgett was taken into custody without incident and processed at SP Horseheads.

He was arraigned in the Village of Horseheads Court, where a full Stay Away Order of Protection was issued on behalf of the victim. Padgett was released on his recognizance (ROR) and is scheduled to reappear in court on August 13, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. 

Source:
Grand Larceny Investigation Leads to Arrest in Chemung County 

Massachusetts Man Arrested for Misappropriating Guardianship Funds in Hillsdale, NY

Press Release

The New York State Police Livingston Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) has arrested Christopher J. Read, 46, of North Adams, Massachusetts, in connection with a larceny investigation involving the misuse of guardianship funds.

Following an extensive investigation, authorities determined that Read, who had been appointed as a legal guardian for an individual residing in Hillsdale, NY, failed to utilize the entrusted funds for the care and well-being of the victim. Instead, Reed diverted these resources for personal gain, misappropriating a total of $38,302.05.

As a result of the investigation, Read was charged with:

• Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Class D felony)
• Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree (Class E felony)

Read was released on one's own recognizance and scheduled to appear in the Town of Claverack Court on June 25,2025. 

Contact Troop K Public Information Officer: Trooper Krystal P. Paolicelli

Source:
Massachusetts Man Arrested for Misappropriating Guardianship Funds in Hillsdale, NY

Albany man pleads guilty to stealing $230K from elderly pensioner

Devin Zielinski, 33, pleaded guilty to grand larceny after stealing more than $230,000 from an elderly New York state pensioner, officials announced Friday. His co-defendant, Amber Diacetis, 31, pleaded guilty to related charges last year.

According to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly, and New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James, Zielinski and Diacetis posed as live-in caregivers while exploiting the victim’s finances over several years.

Details of the financial exploitation

• The victim, an 87-year-old widower with no immediate family support, received $3,526 monthly from his state pension and $2,138 from Social Security.
• From 2018 to 2023, $338,000 was deposited into his accounts; investigators determined over $230,000 was withdrawn by the defendants for personal use.
• During this period, they neglected to pay the victim’s mortgage, property taxes, and utility bills, leading to foreclosure and the loss of his vehicle.
• The victim was left living in unsanitary and unsafe conditions, with inoperable plumbing and animal waste inside the home.

Following intervention by law enforcement, the victim was removed from the home and placed in a safe living environment. Zielinski has remained at the property as a squatter during foreclosure proceedings.

Sentencing dates set

Zielinski pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the third degree before Judge Jennifer G. Sober in Rensselaer County Court. He will be sentenced on June 18. Diacetis is scheduled for sentencing on May 20.

Officials condemned the defendants’ exploitation of a vulnerable senior. “Preying on a vulnerable senior citizen to steal his hard-earned pension and social security benefits while forcing him to live in squalor is reprehensible,” DiNapoli said.

The case was investigated by the State Comptroller’s Division of Investigations, New York State Police, Schodack Police Department, and prosecuted by the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office.

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Albany man pleads guilty to stealing $230K from elderly pensioner

3 Yrs. Prison For Stealing $500K From Law Firm Acct.: Nassau DA

Between 2014-2021, Michelle Byrd stole from bank accounts that benefited people with special needs, prosecutors said.

by Jerry Barmash

A Hempstead woman has been sentenced to up to three years in prison for stealing money from a law firm bank accounts, prosecutors said. (Shutterstock)

MINEOLA, NY — A Hempstead woman was sentenced on Friday to one to three years in prison for stealing more than $500,000 from a law firm that was the trustee for bank accounts that benefited people with special needs, prosecutors said.

Michelle Byrd, 55, pleaded guilty on April 29, to one count of second-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Byrd paid restitution to the law firm for $106,287.02 and judgment orders were issued for the benefit of the law firm of $395,266.41 and $25,000 for the law firm’s insurance company, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

“Michelle Byrd had a duty as a case manager for seven trusts to protect the firm’s vulnerable clients and manage their finances appropriately and carefully to ensure that their needs were met," Donnelly said. "Instead, this defendant acted only in her own self-interest, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly and special needs clients to finance her lifestyle. Her despicable and unconscionable theft forced a wheelchair-bound stroke victim to sell his home because of the financial losses he suffered."

Donnelly said that Byrd worked for a Nassau County-based law firm that manages trusts for special needs clients. An attorney at the firm served as a trustee on trust accounts that supported seven clients and was the authorized signatory permitted to make disbursements and manage the beneficiaries’ bank accounts and transactions. Byrd, a salaried employee, served as a case manager, and was in frequent contact with trust beneficiaries regarding their financial needs, Donnelly said.

From April 2014 to April 2021, Byrd wrote hundreds of checks to herself from seven trust accounts, causing a total loss of approximately $526,553. Byrd forged the signature of the trustee on checks and forged bank statements to conceal the theft, Donnelly said.

"Byrd violated her ethical obligations and the trust of the clients she was supposed to serve and will now forfeit her funds and freedom to pay for her crimes," Donnelly said.

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3 Yrs. Prison For Stealing $500K From Law Firm Acct.: Nassau DA

Plattekill woman sentenced for grand larceny

A former home health aide has been sentenced in an elder abuse case, according to the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.

Source:
Plattekill woman sentenced for grand larceny

Home health aid charged with bilking elderly couple out of $32,500

PORT LEYDEN — A home health aid worker in Lewis County is accused of stealing more than $32,000 from people she was entrusted to help.

Sheriff’s deputies said Stacey Dixon, 35, of Port Leyden, was an aid worker for an elderly couple and she stole $32,500 from the couple over the course of roughly eight months in 2020. Deputies said Dixon spent $17,700 on the couple’s credit card and cashed $14,800 in checks from their bank account.

Dixon was taken into custody on Wednesday on 16 counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument and three counts of third-degree grand larceny, both felonies, authorities said. She was arraigned in court and was released on her own recognizance.

She is scheduled to reappear in court.

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Home health aid charged with bilking elderly couple out of $32,500

Brooklyn ex-con swindled friends out of $500,000 with help of disbarred lawyer: Prosecutors

By Noah Goldberg

A disbarred Brooklyn lawyer helped his ex-con pal fleece her friends out of half a million dollars, prosecutors said Thursday.

Gerald Douglas pretended to represent Helen Lurene Elias in a multimillion dollar lawsuit during meetings with five victims, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said.

The partners in crime convinced Elias’s friends to lend her $300,000 until her bogus legal settlement came in, prosecutors said.

Elias, 55, allegedly finagled a total of $544,000 out of 10 of her well-meaning buddies and promised to repay them double or triple what they gave her.

Gerald Douglas, 52, in Brooklyn Supreme Court. (Noah Goldberg/New York Daily News)

When pressed by the victims about getting paid back, Elias and Douglas, 52, made up excuses and never refunded the people.

 

The duo are charged with scheme to defraud and and grand larceny and Elias is also charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Elias was ordered held on $100,000 bail at her arraignment Monday,

Douglas pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Thursday. Elias was ordered held on $100,000 bail at her arraignment Monday.

She spent more than a year in prison for a similar scam that she ran from 2010 to 2013, where she bilked 10 friends out of $300,000. In that case, she claimed she had to clear liens before collecting a multimillion dollar inheritance.

She was convicted of scheme to defraud and grand larceny.

Douglas was disbarred in 2019 for allegedly misappropriating his clients’ funds.

He was also charged earlier this year with stealing the down payment for a house from an elderly woman in Brooklyn. That case is still pending. 

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Brooklyn ex-con swindled friends out of $500,000 with help of disbarred lawyer: Prosecutors

Disbarred Bellmore attorney accused of stealing escrow funds

Gregg A. Luckman charged by Nassau County DA's office

An Appellate Division committee disbarred him a month later amid an investigation of professional misconduct. (iStock)

The Nassau County District Attorney’s office has charged a disbarred Bellmore attorney with grand larceny, and accused him of stealing $372,500 in escrow funds from a client, according to Newsday.

Gregg A. Luckman represented a client in the $7.4 million sale of a Manhattan apartment in June 2018.

An Appellate Division committee disbarred him a month later amid an investigation of professional misconduct, including allegations of misappropriation of client funds and failure to safeguard escrow funds. He had requested his resignation as an attorney.

He agreed that no money would move from accounts he had access to, but continued to represent that client in the deal, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.

He took a $555,000 down payment from the purchaser, but instead of releasing those funds to his client, he allegedly used those himself and paid his client $175,000 from other accounts.

The 53-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison, according to the report.

Similarly, New York attorney Mitch Kossoff is under pressure for going silent when his clients started asking about their escrow accounts, fearing he had stolen their money. In late April, news came that Kossoff forged his mother’s signature for $2.6 million in loans. [Newsday] — Dennis Lynch

 

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Disbarred Bellmore attorney accused of stealing escrow funds

Disbarred Brooklyn lawyer charged with stealing down payment on home

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

An East Flatbush man has been indicted by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office on a grand larceny charge for allegedly stealing the down payment for the purchase of a Brownsville home whose seller he represented. The defendant also allegedly separately borrowed $14,000 from the client and never paid it back.
  
Gonzalez identified the defendant as Gerald Douglas, 52, of East Flatbush. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Sharen Hudson on an indictment in which he is charged with second-degree grand larceny. He was released without bail and ordered to return to court on May 12, 2021.
 
According to the DA’s Office, the defendant represented a 76-year-old woman in the sale of her Brownsville home, negotiating the contract for her in September 2018. A down payment of $71,700 was allegedly deposited into the defendant’s escrow account. 

The closing occurred in August 2019, by which time the defendant had allegedly stopped returning his client’s phone calls, and she was forced to retain new counsel to close the transaction. The client received the sale proceeds at the closing but not the down payment, despite repeated requests to the defendant, according to the charges.
 
It is further alleged that in June and July 2018, Douglas asked the same client if she would loan him money, first $6,000 and then $8,000. He allegedly told her he was expecting a rental payment for a property he owned in Flatbush, although in fact the property had gone into foreclosure five years earlier and he was no longer the owner.

Gonzalez commented, “The victim in this case was allegedly defrauded of a large sum of money by her own attorney, who had a legal duty to protect her interests. I would like to thank my Public Integrity Bureau for its hard work in seeking to hold the defendant accountable for his alleged criminal act and betrayal of trust.”
 
Douglas was disbarred by the Appellate Division Second Department in 2019.
 
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Laura Neubauer, bureau chief, and Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, deputy chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division.

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Disbarred Brooklyn lawyer charged with stealing down payment on home

Disbarred Manhasset attorney sentenced in stolen funds scheme

By: Adina Genn

A disbarred attorney was sentenced for using stolen funds to pay restitution in an earlier case, the Nassau County District Attorney’s office said Wednesday.

Alfred DiGirolomo, Jr., of Manhasset, was sentenced to 1-1/3 years to four years in prison for stealing $675,000 from clients and using a portion of the stolen money to pay restitution on an unrelated NCDA case in which he pleaded guilty in April 2019 to stealing nearly $230,000.

DiGirolomo pleaded guilty in December to three counts of grand larceny to stealing the $675,000. He had pleaded guilty for stealing the $230,000 in 2019.

When he was sentenced on Monday, he was ordered to pay restitution for $680,000.

“Alfred DiGirolomo swindled multiple clients to pay for country club dues and cigars, and in one case, stole from one client to repay another victim,” District Attorney Madline Singas said in a statement.

DiGirolomo’s attorney, Robert Del Col, told Newsday that his client made “poor decisions” and  got “tangled up with some rather disreputable clients.”

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Disbarred Manhasset attorney sentenced in stolen funds scheme

Caretaker arrested for allegedly stealing $10,000 wedding ring from elderly OKC couple

by: Cassandra Sweetman

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A metro woman was arrested Tuesday night after she allegedly stole and pawned the wedding ring belonging to the wife of the elderly man she was tasked to care for.

Vinia Foster Duncan, AKA Vinia Monique Buckley, was arrested on complaint of financial exploitation by caretaker, fugitive from justice, grand larceny from a house and making a false declaration of ownership to a pawnbroker.

She was hired by the victim to care for her husband in October 2020 off of Care.com.

By December, the victim’s wedding ring of over 50 years, estimated to be worth $10,000, had vanished from her room.

“They confronted her, she denied having any role in the ring going missing,” said Oklahoma City Police MSgt. Gary Knight.

The ring’s owner was not convinced. She took matters into her own hands, becoming a detective of sorts, and found out that Duncan allegedly pawned the ring at a pawn shop in Northwest Oklahoma City.

Duncan is accused of receiving $250 for the ring.

According to police, the victim also learned that Duncan is wanted in Illinois for aggravated identity theft, something Care.com’s background check may have missed.

The website claims to complete a background check that includes a Social Security number trace, a multi-jurisdictional criminal database search and federal and county criminal records search.

A spokesperson for Care.com told KFOR in a statement, “Care.com learned of this troubling incident today and we deeply regret that this family was put through this experience. We are currently looking into this individual’s use of our platform. In the meantime, we are willing to assist law enforcement in any way we can if asked to do so. The safety of our community is and will remain a top priority.“

“There are many, many caretakers in this world that do a wonderful job for people who are fine upstanding human beings,” MSgt. Knight said, “but just like any line of work, there are some people who get into that line of work that shouldn’t be in it.”

Police said that in cases like this one, anyone with financial interest in the ring has some claim to it, so a judge will make a determination as to what will happen with it. In many similar cases, if convicted, the defendant will make a restitution to the pawn shop.

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Caretaker arrested for allegedly stealing $10,000 wedding ring from elderly OKC couple

Former Brooklyn lawyer accused of $8M deed theft scheme

Sanford Solny accused of reaping $600K in rent on unlawfully obtained homes

 

By Georgia Kromrei

From left: 161 East 29th Street in East Flatbush, 2 Jardine Place in Ocean Hill and 163 Montauk Avenue in Cypress Hills (Google Maps)

A former Brooklyn attorney has been indicted for carrying out a nearly $8 million deed theft scheme, a practice that is not uncommon in areas with high foreclosure rates.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez accused Sanford Solny of stealing deeds to eight properties in foreclosure by tricking victims into handing over their homes. He allegedly collected over $600,000 in rent from the properties, which are located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York, Cypress Hills, Flatbush and Ocean Hill. The homes were valued at $7.8 million.

Solny was served a 63-count indictment for grand larceny, scheme to defraud and possession of stolen property.

“Brooklyn’s valuable real estate market continues to be an attractive target for fraudsters willing to deceive homeowners,” said Gonzalez. “These victims, who trusted the defendant to help them avoid foreclosure, instead allegedly had their homes stolen by him and were left facing financial ruin.”

The alleged deed thief, who lost his license to practice law in 2012, just before the alleged scheme began, received homeowners desperate to avoid foreclosure in his Borough Park office. Solny convinced them he would sell the properties to a third party in order to save their homes from foreclosure, and paid the alleged victims between $1,000 and $18,000 to take control of their properties.

According to Gonzalez, the homeowners believed that after Solny sold their properties to a third party, the lender would forgive the loan amount. Instead, Gonzalez alleges that Solny never made any effort to sell the properties.

In some cases, the alleged victims would sign the deeds over to Solny directly, believing that doing so was necessary to carry out the short sale. In other cases, Solny would instruct the homeowners to sign paperwork they thought was related to the transaction, but instead ceded ownership of their homes. After the transaction was completed, he convinced the homeowners to vacate the property.

Solny’s alleged scheme is not an isolated occurrence, especially in minority communities, where foreclosure rates are elevated.

When a foreclosure filing is made public, which happens long before the lender takes back the keys to the property, homeowners are often met with a barrage of solicitations from lawyers, real estate brokers and house flippers with cash offers. The onslaught is such that foreclosure prevention specialists often struggle to distinguish themselves and reach the homeowner.

The pressure to sell rather than refinance or seek assistance is particularly severe in neighborhoods like East New York and Cypress Hills, where foreclosure rates are higher than the rest of the city. In November, the New York Department of State declared parts of those neighborhoods a “cease and desist zone,” a move that the Long Island Board of Realtors opposed.

Homeowners in parts of East New York and Cypress Hills can now add their names to a published list, which forbids real estate brokers from contacting those facing foreclosure without their permission. The restrictions will be in place until 2025.

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Former Brooklyn lawyer accused of $8M deed theft scheme

Deputies: St. Albans theft ring targets elderly man in nursing home

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Four people were arraigned after allegedly taking thousands of dollars worth of tools from the garage of a man who had been put in a nursing home.

Robin Jackson, 51, of St. Albans, was charged with multiple felony counts, including grand larceny and exploiting an elderly person.

William Aliff Jr., 43, of St. Albans, Mary Ann Malcolm, 45, of Charleston, and David Malcolm, 45, of Charleston, were charged with lesser counts including conspiracy and receiving or transferring stolen goods.

Deputies say the items were sold for money or traded for drugs.

According to the criminal complaint, Robin Jackson took items from her father's garage. She later told police that her father did not allow her into the garage because she was a drug addict.

Deputies say Jackson traded and pawned fishing equipment, tools, and a generator that all had her father's name on them.

Jackson's bail has been set at $10,000 cash only. The other three have a bond set of $2,000 or ten percent cash each.

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Deputies: St. Albans theft ring targets elderly man in nursing home

Disbarred Poughkeepsie attorney Michael Varble faces 7 felony charges

Michael Varble(Photo: Courtesy photo/State police)

Michael R. Varble, a Poughkeepsie attorney who was recently disbarred, faces seven felony charges in relation to “stealing unearned retainer fees from clients,” according to Dutchess County District Attorney William V. Grady.

Varble was charged on Wednesday morning with four charges of third-degree grand larceny and three charges for fourth-degree grand larceny, Grady said in a statement.

Varble was arraigned on Wednesday. Bail was set at $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond, which Varble posted, Grady said. Varble is scheduled to return to court March 20.

Varble was suspended as an attorney on July 9 amid accusations he failed to refund fees of clients who ceased their cases with his firm, totaling more than $32,000 according to court documents. He was disbarred in February after his resignation was granted by the state supreme court.

State police said an investigation began following a May 2017 complaint claiming Varble had accepted retainer fees and payments for legal services that had not been provided. The investigation revealed the lawyer, who lives in Kingston, had accepted payment "in excess of $28,000 from multiple victims" for services that were not provided, state police said.

Varble, who Grady said represented himself in court Wednesday, told the Journal "I have no comment" on the charges.

He was checked into Dutchess County Jail at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the jail, and released by around noon.

“Mr. Varble is charged in all of the felony complaints with stealing unearned retainer fees from clients,” Grady said. “A Dutchess County Grand Jury will ultimately determine what charges or additional charges should be preferred.”

Varble was suspended in July 2018 because he was found guilty of "professional misconduct immediately threatening the public interest" for failing to comply with demands from the Grievance Committee for the state's 9th Judicial District, according to court documents.

Varble submitted an application to resign as an attorney and counselor-at-law on Aug. 13 from the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department. As part of Varble’s resignation application, he stated that he could not defend himself against the allegations, and admitted to failing to return fees to clients.

The Grievance Committee for the state's 9th Judicial District had received at least 18 complaints from former clients of Varble's law firm who claimed that neither he nor his associates responded to them. There were at least 11 of the cases in which Varble did not refund clients their retainer fees, even if the fee wasn't earned through representation.

The Grievance Committee recommended the approval of the resignation.

Per his resignation, Varble was ordered to no longer practice law, or give an opinion as to the law or its application. He was also ordered to provide proof of payment of these fees, should he decide to file any future reinstatement applications, according to court documents.

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Disbarred Poughkeepsie attorney Michael Varble faces 7 felony charges

Dennis Crawford Imprisoned For Financial Exploitation Of Ward

DATE/TIME: 11/20/15 @ 1100 hours LOCATION: Derby, VT VIOLATION: Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult, Grand Larceny, Abuse Neglect of a Vulnerable Adult, False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer ACCUSED: Dennis Crawford AGE:46 CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Orleans, VT VICTIM: Theodore Ackley AGE:86 CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Derby, VT SUMMARY OF INCIDENT: In August 2015 the Vermont State Police became involved with a case involving a vulnerable adult and a family member who was taking advantage of him. On 11/20/15 after several months of investigation a search warrant was executed at the residence of Crawford with the help of Border Patrol K-9 Unit, VSP Computer Crimes and local BCI personnel to look for further evidence of the above crime. Crawford was arrested for the above violations and taken before the Judge. Crawford was released on conditions.

Dennis Crawford Imprisoned For Financial Exploitation Of Ward

 

The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Dennis Crawford, 48, who now lives in St. Johnsbury and formerly lived in Newport and Orleans, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Rutland to 18 months of imprisonment following his guilty plea to a charge of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford also ordered that Crawford serve three years of supervised release following completion of his prison term and pay restitution of more than $77,000. The court ordered Crawford to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 1 to begin serving his sentence.

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Dennis Crawford Imprisoned For Financial Exploitation Of Ward

'No contest' J. Patrick Buckley says to theft and fraud

Disbarred Fort Myers attorney J. Patrick Buckley pleaded no contest to one count of grand larceny of more than $100,000, four counts of practicing law without a license and one count of scheme to defraud.

Adjudication was withheld until a sentencing hearing scheduled on March 7.

"There's no plea deal between him and the state. So we're stepping past the trial and going straight to a sentencing hearing with the judge," said Buckley's court-appointed attorney Christopher Whitney.

Whitney described the hearing this way: "The judge says tell me why I should or should not put him in prison for 30 years."

Typically in Lee County sentences runs concurrently, Whitney said, so it's unlikely Buckley would face the maximum of 55 years for the crimes. "But 30 years in prison is still a long time," he said.

Buckley’s troubles began in 2014 when $286,093.98 was transferred to a trust account he controlled. Lawyers hold trust fund money in connection with their representation of a client, the Florida Bar rules state. It’s not money to be used by the attorney for any of his expenses. In this case the money was from the sale of a house in a divorce case.

In September 2014 the opposing attorney in the divorce case attempted to get an accounting of the trust funds. When Buckley didn’t hand over the records, a judge ordered him to appear in court and he was found in contempt. The next day, Oct. 30, 2014 Buckley wired the money to the opposing attorney’s account.

In the meantime, the Florida Bar received a complaint about Buckley. It issued a subpoena for his bank records and found that the day before his court-ordered appearance, the account was $42,265.25 short.

The day he appeared in court, Buckley deposited a $100,000 insurance payment check into the trust account for another client. The Bar asserts Buckley used a portion of the insurance money to make up for the shortage of the money from the house sale.

Buckley didn’t respond to the Bar’s correspondence or orders. So on Dec. 30, 2014 the Bar filed a petition for emergency suspension, stating Buckley “has caused, or is likely to cause, immediate and serious harm to clients and/or the public and that immediate action must be taken for protection of the respondent’s clients and the public.”

On Jan. 5, 2015 the Supreme Court of Florida suspended Buckley from practicing law, giving him 30 days to stop representing clients.

On May 7, 2015, Buckley was arrested and charged with grand larceny and fraud by swindling, two first degree felonies.

But he didn't stop practicing law.

While in court on Oct. 7, 2015, at a hearing about his fraud and larceny charges, Buckley was arrested again. He was charged with one count of scheme to defraud and four counts of practicing law without a license. The bond was set at $25,000 and Buckley remained in jail for nearly four months.

A trial on both cases was scheduled for Monday. Buckley pleaded no contest to six of the charges.
One count of fraud was merged into the grand larceny charge. Buckley will remain free on bail until March 7.

Buckley, 48, was admitted to the bar in 2001 after graduating from the University of Miami School of Law, according to his bar profile. His suspension and subsequent permanent disbarment in 2015 were the only items in his Florida Bar disciplinary history. Buckley was a gun rights advocate and had gained a reputation as a "firearms attorney" and an expert in federal and state gun laws.

The fact that Buckley was a lawyer may work against him at sentencing. "It's always unfortunate when a lawyer represents someone who used to be one of their own," said Whitney, a former public defender. "And unfortunately that gives the prosecutors something to hammer home a little more."

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'No contest' J. Patrick Buckley says to theft and fraud

Ex-health aide gets four years after pocketing $260G from Manhattan widow, 99

Stephany Hernandez

A home health aide who stole $260,000 by cashing forged checks — ripping off her 99-year-old widow she worked for — got up to 4 1/2 years in prison on Friday.

Stephany Hernandez, 25, pleaded guilty in July to grand larceny in exchange for an incarceration stint of 1 ½-to-4 ½ years, and agreed to pay back the sum she stole, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.

Hernandez worked for an E. 68th St. elderly couple between February 2014 and March 2015. The victim's husband died at age 100 last year.

Their crooked employee wrote over 100 bogus checks to herself, padding her pockets with loot from the infirm woman's account.

With the stolen money, Hernandez went shopping at places like Bloomingdales and Barneys. She took trips to Miami and the Dominican Republic. She also paid her bills.

"Too often, financial exploitation of seniors goes unreported, leaving perpetrators free to move on to their next mark," Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement.

Relatives of the victim uncovered the fraud when reviewing her records after her husband's death.

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Ex-health aide gets four years after pocketing $260G from Manhattan widow, 99

Attorney, caregiver convicted of stealing $900K from estate of Orchard Park siblings

A former estate planning attorney and a local caregiver has been convicted of stealing more than $900,000 from the estates of siblings from Orchard Park.

Stephen Newman, 71, a former Nixon Peabody attorney, pleaded guilty Thursday to second degree grand larceny in New York County Supreme Court and self-described geriatric companion Joan Morgante, 76, of Cheektowaga, pleaded guilty to second degree attempted grand larceny in Erie County Supreme Court.

They’re accused of stealing from the estates of wealthy brother and sister June and Worth Farrington, who lived their entire lives in Orchard Park.

According to the complaint, between 2007-09, Newman, the estate attorney of the Farringtons, made a series of restatements to their living trusts, which changed the outright gifts, originally set to go to charities, into annuities and he made himself the sole trustee of the accounts.

It further stated that for three years, beginning in 2008, Newman diverted to himself more than $900,000 in monies from the Farringtons’ trust accounts, and also diverted more than $400,000 to Morgante, which included the purchase of a $325,000 townhouse.

According to the Attorney General’s office, in 2006, Newman introduced Morgante to Bank of America and recommended her to be the caretaker for June and Worth Farrington, who were both unmarried and without any children. According to an affidavit filed in Surrogate’s Court, Morgante is a high school drop-out without health care certifications or training. Morgante met Newman while caring for one of his clients.

The original 1999 living trusts prepared by Newman provided that the sole trustee of each trust was Bank of America and gave June and Worth Farrington a life interest in the assets in the trust. When they died, the assets were to be given outright to designated charities, including the Salvation Army, City Mission, Nature Conservancy and Women and Children’s Hospital Foundation.

In 2008, the Farringtons had combined assets of more $20 million. June Farrington died in 2008 at the age of 84 and her brother Worth Farrington died in 2014 at 87.  (Continue Reading)

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Attorney, caregiver convicted of stealing $900K from estate of Orchard Park siblings