West Michigan man found guilty for stealing $300,000 from elderly client

MUSKEGON — A West Michigan man was formally found guilty by a jury for stealing more than $300,000 from an elderly client through his company, Senior Planning Resource and Future By Design.

57-year-old Gary "Duke" Haynes of Comstock Park was found guilty of 14 felonies Thursday, Dec. 20 in front of judge Annette Smedley in the 14th Circuit Court in Muskegon. The charges were brought forward by Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette's Elder Financial Crimes Unit in May 2018.

According to Schuette's office, Haynes met the widowed 85-year-old in 2006 and quickly became her financial adviser. The woman gave Haynes her account passwords and other financial information, which he used to "benefit himself and his companies," influencing her financial decisions and taking her money for personal gain. Schuette's office explained in a release that the victim gave Haynes permission to invest some of her money, which he then took for personal gain.

“This man preyed on a vulnerable senior citizen for nothing more than personal gain and cases like these are the exact reason I created the Elder Financial Crimes Unit,” Schuette said in a statement. “I want to thank the Muskegon County’s Prosecutors Office for their commitment to stopping those who would prey on our seniors when they are the most vulnerable to theft and financial exploitation. I also want to thank the Department of Treasury for their assistance on this case.”

Haynes will now face a sentencing on Feb. 8, 2018 for the following charges:

• One felony count on conducting a criminal enterprise, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or $100,000
• One felony count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of $100,00 or more, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or $50,000
• Eight felony counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of $1,000 to $20,000, which is punishable up to five years in prison and/or $10,000
• Four felony counts of falsely returned taxes, which is punishable up to five years in prison and/or $5,000

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West Michigan man found guilty for stealing $300,000 from elderly client

NSW woman spared jail over elderly assault

A Sydney nursing assistant who repeatedly slapped an 85-year-old dementia patient and hit her in the face with her own bathroom rubbish has been spared jail.

Dana Maree Gray, 59, was in August sentenced to 17 months' imprisonment with a six-month non-parole period for assaulting the "entirely dependent" woman while working at The Poplars nursing home in North Epping in August 2017.

However, at Burwood Local Court on Thursday, magistrate Robyn Denes ordered Gray serve the sentence by way of home detention.

Gray had worked in the dementia unit of the home since December 2013 when she walked into the "vulnerable" woman's bedroom and unleashed the "domestic violence" attack, Ms Denes said upon sentencing last month.

The magistrate condemned Gray's abuse of her "position of trust" and the way her offending came to light.

Footage of the assault, tendered in court, was shot on a GoPro camera hidden by a colleague of Gray's who feared for the residents' safety.

It shows Gray raising the woman's bed to chest height so she can't sit or lay down, aggressively pulling off her clothes, slapping her repeatedly and grabbing her hair before hitting her twice in the face with a bag of rubbish.

Ms Denes refused in June to hear the matter under the Mental Health Act and Gray was also deemed "unsuitable" to serve any sentence via community service due to an arm disability.

Her home detention sentence expires on February 19, 2020.

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NSW woman spared jail over elderly assault

Preacher in ‘Basement of Horrors’ Case Gets 27 Years

PHILADELPHIA (CN) — A self-proclaimed Texas street preacher was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison Thursday after helping a woman kidnap, torture and enslave mentally disabled adults, all while stealing more than $200,000 of the captives’ government benefits.

Eddie Wright, 57, is the fourth of five conspirators to be sentenced for the scheme, which began in 2001 and ended a decade later in 2011 when four malnourished adults were rescued from a filthy basement boiler room in Philadelphia.

Wright pleaded guilty in 2015. A sentencing memorandum prepared by his attorney, Brendan T. McGuigan, acknowledged that Wright’s actions were “horrible.”

Linda Weston, who had been the scheme’s ringleader, previously pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison plus 80 years. Her daughter, Jean McIntosh, had helped prosecutors build the case and was sentenced to 40 years prison in August.

Details of the dirty conditions, physical abuse and forced prostitution of the victims began to come to light in charging documents as the case gained national attention.

In all, five defendants were charged with 196 counts. Another of the co-conspirators, Nicklaus Woodard, was sentenced Tuesday to 27 years. Federal charges remain pending against Greg Thomas, Weston’s former boyfriend.

Prosecutors said the five defendants coerced and pressured some of the mentally disabled captives into making Weston their designated payees for their benefits. They moved the captives between several states to avoid being caught, and often locked them in basements, closets and other confined spaces, feeding them minimal food often spiked with sedatives.

At least one of the captives testified she was forced to have children with another captive. She said Weston and her daughter took her child and told her he had died, and then claimed the baby was theirs to collect more benefits.

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Preacher in ‘Basement of Horrors’ Case Gets 27 Years

KC woman posed as relative, exploited elderly veteran. But now she’s paying the price

A Kansas City woman found guilty of exploiting an elderly veteran for money and falsifying medical records has been ordered to serve probation and pay thousands in restitution, according to a news release from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

Cheryl Kelly, 52, was charged with one count of financial exploitation of an elderly person and two counts of Medicaid fraud. The incidents happened while Kelly worked as an in-home personal care attendant in 2013.

Prosecutors accused Kelly of abusing her position by depositing the victim’s money from his veteran benefits and Social Security into an account she created under her name and the victim’s name.

She promised the victim she would use the money to take care of his finances but instead used the money to gamble and pay her mortgage and car insurance, the attorney general’s office said.

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article217823055.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article217823055.html#storylink=cpy

Kelly also allegedly pretended to be the victim’s relative — his niece or sometimes his daughter — to hospital staff, social workers and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Prosecutors said the misuse of the victim’s money caused him to incur “numerous” overdraft fees and get evicted from his home.

Kelly was also accused of falsifying medical records of the victim as well as another Medicaid recipient.

The attorney general’s office also said Kelly had “falsely represented to Medicaid” that she was providing the victims with in-home health services, including bathing, dressing, grooming and help with administering medication.

The attorney general’s office Fraud Control Unit led an investigation into Kelly’s conduct with help from the Missouri Medicaid Audit and Compliance Unit, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

A jury found Kelly guilty of the charges in June.

On Tuesday, Kelly was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution and $10,000 in civil penalties, the attorney general’s office said.

“The abuse of elderly Missourians will not be tolerated,” Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said in a statement. “And those who abuse our elderly residents, veteran residents, and the Medicaid program will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

ead more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article217823055.html#storylink=cpy

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KC woman posed as relative, exploited elderly veteran. But now she’s paying the price

Doctor who dodged jail time for allegedly sexually assaulting an incapacitated patient admitted to sexual contact

A former Texas doctor convicted Thursday of raping an incapacitated patient will serve no prison time after insisting that the sex with his patient was consensual. 

Shafeeq Sheikh, 46, a physician at Baylor College of Medicine was found guilty of second-degree sexual assault last month. But as CrimeOnline previously reported, a jury recommended no jail time, and he will serve only 10 years probation. The former doctor’s medical license has been taken away and he is also required to register as a sex offender after being found guilty of second-degree sexual assault.

In the state of Texas, a jury is allowed to recommend sentencing, and the judge in the case, Senior District Judge Terry L Flenniken, was required by law to follow the recommendation, according to the Houston Chronicle. The crime is reportedly punishable by 20 years in prison.

According to the Associated Press report, Sheikh, who was not scheduled to provide care for the female victim, acknowledged at trial that he did indeed have sexual contact with the patient while working a night shift in 2013, but insisted to jurors that it was consensual. The woman was in the hospital overnight, heavily medicated while suffering from an asthma attack when Sheikh came to her room several times in the night and sexually assaulted her, reportedly after noticing her breast implants. The patient reportedly tried summoning a nurse to help, the call button didn’t work.

While DNA evidence collected at the scene matched the DNA sample belonging to Sheikh, it took two years for any charges to be filed against the guilty doctor.

In addition to the rape kit findings, investigators reportedly determined that Sheikh swiped his badge on the victim’s floor at least 12 times the night of the assault, with surveillance video capturing him on the same floor.

“He sought her out. He chose her to prey on,” Assistant District Attorney Lauren Reeder said during Friday’s sentencing, according to the Associated Press.

“You know he’s the type of man who would go in multiple times, testing the waters, seeing how far he could go and get back to his normal business after that.”

In a statement through a former attorney, the victim gave no comment regarding the punishment and said she wanted to move on.

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Doctor who dodged jail time for allegedly sexually assaulting an incapacitated patient admitted to sexual contact

Former Schaumburg attorney guilty of stealing $200K from clients, including relatives

A former Schaumburg lawyer faces up to 15 years in prison after he was convicted Tuesday of swindling his relatives and others out of more than $200,000, officials said.

A jury found Lino J. Menconi, 52, guilty of two counts of theft of more than $100,000 each, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

The Illinois Supreme Court suspended and then in 2014 disbarred Menconi after the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission accused him of stealing more than $600,000 from clients starting as far back as 2006.

The commission accused him of misleading clients and forging their signatures on settlement payments for money to pay for his mortgage, his children's education, property taxes and country club bills.

His victims included his aunt and uncle, Judy and Leno Menconi, of Oak Lawn. Their son, Mike Menconi, said his parents, now deceased, were in poor health when his cousin took advantage of them, and that their financial losses may have contributed to his father going to a nursing home rather than receiving home health care.

Lino Menconi “is like a serial lying sort of predator,” Mike Menconi said. “He’s just going to take your money and disappear. … I feel like I got justice for my parents.”

Menconi represented himself in the case, though he is no longer a practicing attorney. Prosecutors requested that Menconi be taken into custody following the decision, Mike Menconi said, but he was allowed to remain free on bond.

Sentencing has been set for March 1.

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Former Schaumburg attorney guilty of stealing $200K from clients, including relatives

Business owner guilty of financial exploitation

The owner of the Budget Home Repair business was found guilty Wednesday of financial exploitation of the elderly.

Michael Anthony “Tony” Stewart, 44, opted for a two-day bench trial instead of a jury trial, and on Wednesday afternoon he was found guilty of felony financial exploitation of the elderly. His victim was an 86-year-old woman who had a flooded basement.

He charged the woman $5,000 for pumping water out of the basement. Then he turned around and hired someone to do the half-day’s work for $200, said Ron Holliday, the assistant Buchanan County prosecutor.

Scott Dougherty, owner of St. Joseph Waterproofing, was called as an expert witness by Holliday. He testified pumping water out of the basement would have been a mere $200 job.

The crime was the next day, Stewart came back and told the woman she had mold in her basement and said it would cost $20,000 to remove it, Holliday said.

The evidence shows the woman didn’t have that kind of money and the defendant misrepresented the problem, saying she’d have to tear the house down if she didn’t take care of it, said Circuit Judge Patrick Robb. It’s a material fact that the defendant also misrepresented to another witness, and this wasn’t disputed in the testimony, Robb said.

The judge proceeded to find Stewart guilty as charged.

Stewart remains free on a $25,000 bond. The judge ordered a background investigation and set sentencing for 11 a.m. Friday, March 23.

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Business owner guilty of financial exploitation

Salem man sentenced to 30 years for exploiting the elderly

Joshua S. Miller

On Thursday, Judge Ronald D. White sentenced Joshua S. Miller, 38, of Salem, to 30 years in prison for two counts of financial exploitation of the elderly. The case was prosecuted by Phelps County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Brad Neckermann.

Miller had pleaded guilty back in 2014 to two counts of financial exploitation of the elderly, where he had scammed two elderly Rolla citizens out of almost $200,000. According to Neckermann, Miller used a common scam where a person befriends someone, oftentimes a person who is elderly or disabled, and then offers to perform maintenance work on their homes. Miller told both victims that they needed work on the roofs, insulation in their attics, and other fixes. He told the victims if they didn’t pay what he asked, their homes would be at risk.

As is often the situation on these cases, the victims were elderly and unable to verify that the repairs were necessary. One of Miller’s victims wrote checks to Miller totaling $183,500 over a four-year period for repairs on a home that was worth less than $150,000.

In June, 2014, Miller was given probation by the original judge to offer him an opportunity to pay back the victims. While on probation, Miller did not pay back any of the money and committed a new offense in Texas County, where he stole jewelry from the home of an elderly woman. Judge White found that the defendant had violated probation and ordered Miller to serve his 30 year sentence.

Prosecutor Brendon Fox issued a warning for people to look out for their elderly relatives and friends.

“These scams are more common than you think, and they are rarely reported because the victims are often either unaware they’ve been scammed or are too embarrassed to report it. Please look out for your friends, family, and neighbors, and if you think they are being taken advantage of by someone, report it,” Fox said.

If you believe someone is the victim of financial exploitation of the elderly or disabled, you can contact the Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-800-392-0210.

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Salem man sentenced to 30 years for exploiting the elderly

No one believed he would rape nursing home residents. Now he is going to prison

(CNN)At first, no one believed them when they said the charming, well-liked aide in the nursing home where they lived had raped them.+

Claims like theirs are often dismissed as drug-induced hallucinations, signs of dementia or attempts by lonely residents to get attention. And even when the cases of nursing home residents get to court, they can fall apart when victims' memories prove unreliable -- or they are no longer alive to testify.
This time was different.

The two women made their way to the courthouse in Waynesville, North Carolina, last week to testify against the man entrusted with their care.

One entered the courtroom in her wheelchair, two oxygen tanks behind her, and defiantly described the February night when 58-year-old Luis Gomez lifted up her nightgown. He had entered her room at the Brian Center, a nursing home in the center of town, when she was alone and asked if she needed to go the bathroom. She said she did, and climbed out of bed. As she entered the bathroom and faced the toilet, she heard the door close and lock. Then, she said, Gomez raped her.

At first, no one acted on her accusation, and she feared Gomez might appear in her room again at any moment. But when a nurse insisted on notifying police -- against the wishes of her boss -- the call triggered an investigation. And women just down the hall from the resident came forward, with their own allegations against Gomez.

Now he has been sentenced to at least 23 years behind bars.

"What this man has done for a period of almost a decade is ... prey on Alzheimer's patients because they're forgetful and they can't remember and oftentimes they die," the prosecutor told the judge during sentencing.

"In 2016, Your Honor, he made the grave mistake of hurting the wrong woman. She was brave enough to tell, and she wouldn't be quiet until everybody listened. And because of her, that's the only reason that we are finally able to put him in prison."

After a weeklong trial, Gomez was found guilty of raping both women who testified against him -- convicted on six counts that included forcible rape with a physically helpless victim. He still maintains his innocence, and is appealing the verdict.

At his sentencing, the prosecutor said the two women who testified against him were not his only victims.

Six others have accused him, she said. At three different facilities in the area. Some were in their 50s and 60s. At least one was nearly 90.

None were believed, until the woman who was raped in her nightgown came forward. Gomez's attorney told jurors they shouldn't believe her either.

"He told me I'm untruthful, and I said, no I am not," the victim, now 55, said of the lawyer's questioning. "He made me feel like I was a worm crawling on the ground." CNN does not typically identify victims of sexual abuse.  (Click to Continue)

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No one believed he would rape nursing home residents. Now he is going to prison

Family sees first victory in guardianship case

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) - Victims of Clark County's guardianship system can celebrate a first-of-its-kind victory this week.

Elizabeth Indig lost her home and everything in it -- furniture, a lifetime of collectibles, even the clothes in her closets. It all came at the hands of private, for-profit guardian April Parks who was appointed by Clark County Family Court to protect Mrs. Indig. Instead, a judge found Parks committed fraud.

"Parks separated us, she stole everything in the house," says Mrs. Indig's daughter who has the same name. "The house was lost that my mom planned to live in until she died and basically Parks sentenced my mom to a life sentence in a nursing home!"

Mrs. Indig's daughter has been fighting the guardianship system for years. "I have seen things that I did not want to know that people could do to each other," she says.

But a hearing Tuesday in Family Court is giving her hope.

"It's unique and promising and encouraging," says Homa Woodrum, Mrs. Indig's attorney. She tells us Mrs. Indig's victory came in the courtroom of Judge Nancy Allf.

"And she ruled that $100,000 was lost through the conduct of April Parks," Homa explains. "She ruled that $40,000 in value of the home was lost because of the conduct of April Parks and that April Parks had paid herself and her attorney over $15,000 without court approval."

Parks was a no-show in court, but her voice was heard through her own financial records.

"Some days were over 100 hours of billing," says Homa. "That's not physically possible."

Because of what they're calling egregious over-billing, Parks' records on file with the court show on just one day in July 2013, she raked in more than $12,000. Woodrum says Judge Allf ruled Parks must return all the money she billed Mrs. Indig, plus interest and attorneys fees.

"It validates all the things I've been saying all these years about what she did to me."

While Elizabeth is grateful for this decision in a civil court, she says she won't rest until Parks faces criminal charges.

"After all, a judge actually used the words fraud and conversion and breach of fiduciary duty. Doesn't something have to be done now?"

District Attorney Steve Wolfson told Contact 13 that something will be done soon. He says the criminal investigation into April Parks is ongoing and moving quickly toward a resolution.

We tried to contact April Parks through lawyers she has worked with, no one has returned our calls.

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Family sees first victory in guardianship case

See Also:

BREAKING: Private Guardian April Parks Found Guilty Of Fraud, Theft, And Conversion

Steve Miller: The Story of Elizabeth Indig 

Elderly couple fights guardianship system

The Vegas Voice: Guardianship, Part 3: NOW GET RESULTS!

Steve Miller: Jared Shafer's Clark County Family Court Lackeys Removed From All Guardianship Cases

Contact 13 Investigates: Guardian Gouging?

Steve Miller on the Removal of Nevada Private Guardian April Parks

Couple liberated from guardianship system

New Family Court Judge Puts Immediate Stop To Elder Abuse And Exploitation By For-Hire "Guardians" Jared Shafer And April Parks

Steve Miller: The Story of Elizabeth Indig
 
Steve Miller: A Message From the Son-in-Law of an Exploited Ward of the Clark Co. (Nevada) Family Court

Boulder City police investigate guardianship cases

Steve Miller: Judge Steel Frees Three "Wards" From Exploitive Court Ordered Guardianship On Same Day

Dan Roberts, The Vegas Voice on Private Guardian April Parks: She Had the Dogs Killed

Families Caught up in Guardianship Losing Their Homes

Steve Miller: "Guardian" April Parks Home and Office Raided by Police and Nevada AG

Search warrants served as police investigate guardianship exploitation
Contact 13: Judge in guardianship cases recuses herself

Guardianship Commission to ask for criminal investigations

Steve Miller: Embattled Private Guardian April Parks Censured For Exploiting The Elderly, Mastermind Jared Shafer Stays Under The Radar - For Now