Women charged after alleged elder exploitation began at Union County grocery store

By Connor Lomis

MONROE, N.C. (WBTV) - Two women were charged with elder exploitation on Tuesday after authorities said they coerced a man at a grocery store in Union County.

Records show Sylvia Marks and Brittany Nicholas were charged with exploitation of an elder and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Sylvia Marks (left), Brittany Nicholas (right)(Courtesy: Union County Sheriff's Office)

Marks was issued a $501,000 bond and was also charged with:

• Misdemeanor larceny
• Obtaining property by false pretenses
• Resisting, delaying, or obstructing

Nicholas was issued a $400,000 secured bond and was also charged with:

• Assault
• Resisting, delaying, or obstructing

Extortion allegedly began at local grocery store, deputies say

The extortion of the elderly man reportedly began at a local grocery store, though the store’s name and location were not specified.

Deputies said Marks approached the man and asked if he remembered her, allegedly concealing her identity by telling him her name was Anna. They said she convinced him they knew each other and, over the next several weeks, persuaded him to let her move into his home. Investigators said Marks later invited Nicholas to move in as well, falsely presenting Nicholas as her daughter.

The man reported that he sent about $25,000 to Marks and Nicholas and noticed several items missing from his home. Detectives said the man appeared to have been assaulted by Nicholas a few days earlier, citing bruising on his arm.

Deputies said they were initially called to the man’s home for a trespassing complaint after Marks and Nicholas were allegedly asked to leave “multiple times” but refused.

During the investigation, the sheriff said investigators learned the situation was not isolated, as another victim who lived just miles away was also targeted using the same tactics. 

Full Article & Source:
Women charged after alleged elder exploitation began at Union County grocery store 

Relatives and nurse charged in elder abuse case after 79-year-old woman dies in Brockton

Three women face a host of charges, including elder abuse, Medicaid fraud and larceny in the death of a 79-year-old Massachusetts woman last year. WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports.

Source:
Relatives and nurse charged in elder abuse case after 79-year-old woman dies in Brockton

Tiverton woman accused of exploiting elder arrested in Florida

by: Allison Shinskey

TIVERTON, R.I. (WPRI) — A Tiverton woman accused of exploiting an elder out of tens of thousands of dollars was arrested in Florida earlier this year, according to authorities.

Randi Walsh, 36, was wanted in Rhode Island on one count of exploitation of an elderly person over the age of 65 and three counts of larceny of over $1,500 from a person over the age of 65.

According to the police report, police received a call reporting larceny from the victim’s granddaughter back on Feb. 9.

She explained to officers that her grandfather had next to nothing in his bank account and online shopping history on sites like Amazon history showed purchases that he said he never made.

She also mentioned that her grandfather had hired a personal nurse in Oct. 2021, later identified as Walsh. However, they hadn’t seen her since June 2022, after which she reportedly moved to Florida.

Officers went to a nearby dance studio to get more information on one of the transactions and found out that Walsh had, in fact, changed her credit card to make a purchase there that matched the victim’s.

On Feb. 28, the victim filed a formal statement saying he wished to press charges. The statement mentioned that the dance studio purchase was $500 and he believed the total amount stolen was $27,600.

The list of fraudulent transactions in the police report is all personal expenses that range from gas stations, restaurants, nail salons, grocery stores, and dozens of Amazon orders.

Another police report from Volusia County, Florida says Walsh was taken into custody in August of this year after she was found living in an apartment in Port Orange, Florida.

Walsh was extradited back to Rhode Island where she faced a judge and was released on $10,000 personal recognizance. She was granted permission to leave the state but was ordered to have no contact with her victim.

12 News reached out to the Tiverton Police Department for more information regarding the investigation but has not yet heard back.

Walsh’s next court date is scheduled for Dec. 7.

Full Article & Source:
Tiverton woman accused of exploiting elder arrested in Florida

Police: Caregiver exploited elderly Little Compton woman

by: Sarah Doiron

LITTLE COMPTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Police have arrested a Providence woman who’s accused of taking advantage of an elderly Little Compton resident.

Jahlena Ann Giron, 33, has been charged with exploitation of an elder, larceny, forgery/counterfeiting and obtaining property under false pretenses.

The investigation began when a certified in-home caregiver told detectives she believed one of her clients was being defrauded.

The caregiver explained that the client’s other in-home caregiver, later identified as Giron, may have withdrawn money from the elderly woman’s bank accounts, according to police.

Detectives learned Giron had taken the victim to the BayCoast Bank bank in Westport. The two walked into the bank, according to police, and the victim was there as Giron withdrew $300 from the woman’s bank account. Immediately after that transaction, police said Giron withdrew an additional $300 from the victim’s account at the bank’s ATM.

This wasn’t the only time Giron was accused of withdrawing money from the woman’s account. Police said on a separate occasion, Giron cashed a check from the victim for $3,500 at the BayCoast Bank branch in Cranston.

Giron then attempted to cash another check for $4,800 through a Capitol One online service, police said, but that check was flagged as suspicious and not processed.

Detectives confirmed with the victim’s family that Giron was not authorized to withdraw money from her bank accounts. Police said it was later determined that both checks were forged, and a third check had also been taken from the victim but hadn’t been cashed.

Giron turned herself into the Little Compton Police Department last Monday, where she was arraigned and released. Police said she will appear in Newport District Court at a later date.

Full Article & Source:

Police: Caregiver exploited elderly Little Compton woman

2012 Holliston Citizen of the Year arraigned on larceny charges, misusing clients' money

by Norman Miller 

WOBURN – A former Holliston “Citizen of the Year,” who served 12 years as a town selectman, is accused of misusing clients' money when he was an attorney.

Andrew Porter, 58, who now lives in Whitinsville, pleaded not guilty at his Middlesex Superior Court arraignment on Thursday to four counts of larceny by false pretense of more than $250. He is accused of using more than $71,000 of fraudulently obtained money for his own use.

Judge Helene Kazanjian released Porter without bail, but ordered him to not engage in selling securities, loans and other investments. He is due back in court on June 11.

Porter had already been disbarred for the financial fraud. In 2018, the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers disbarred Porter, alleging financial misconduct. That included billing his former firm and clients for personal expenses, intentional misuse of client trust account funds, and keeping a client’s retainer instead of giving it to his firm.

Andrew Porter, left, is seen in this 2016 Daily News file photo.

Former Holliston Citizen of the Year

Porter was temporarily suspended from the bar in October 2015 while the investigation was underway. The March decision was retroactive to October. Porter was admitted to the bar in December 1988.

Later that year, Porter was found to be in contempt of that order when he offered divorce mediation services despite not having a license to do so. Porter denied the allegation but said he was not going to fight the order.

A list of accomplishments on his former business website included several family law awards, as well as his involvement in Project Just Because and Celebrate Holliston, his 2012 Holliston Citizen of the Year award and his four-time chairmanship of the 495 Corridor Partnership.

He was also a Holliston selectman for 12 years, according to Daily News archives.

Full Article & Source:

2012 Holliston Citizen of the Year arraigned on larceny charges, misusing clients' money

Winsted woman pleads guilty to stealing $850,000 from physically, mentally disabled people in conservatorships

Sheila Grochowski, 70, of Winsted, faces a charge of first-degree larceny and 19 counts of second-degree forgery for allegedly embezzling $851,000 from elderly and disabled people under the control of probate courts. (Avon Police / HANDOUT)

By David Owens

A 72-year-old Winsted woman who stole more than $850,000 from people with physical and mental disabilities pleaded guilty Thursday and faces up to seven years in prison.

Sheila Grochowski was arrested by Avon police and the chief state’s attorney’s office in November 2017 on more than a dozen larceny and forgery charges and had previously turned down a plea offer. But with her case called in for trial and jury selection scheduled to begin Thursday, she asked if the state’s plea offer was still available and accepted it, pleading guilty to a single count of first-degree larceny and two counts of second-degree forgery.

She is scheduled to be sentenced April 29 to 10 years in prison, suspended after she serves seven years, plus five years of probation. Her lawyer, public defender John Stawicki, will be able to argue for less prison time and probation.

Grochowski was a bookkeeper and secretary for Barbara H. Hance Associates, a Farmington company that handles the financial affairs of people whose affairs are controlled by probate courts.

Prosecutor Christopher A. Alexy told Hartford Superior Court Judge Laura F. Baldini that Grochowski wrote 437 checks to herself from the accounts of Hance clients. The state had video obtained from Grochowski’s bank showing her depositing two of the stolen checks, and bank records from her bank and those of her victims showing the extent of her thievery.

Grochowski pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine, meaning she disputed some of the state’s evidence, but acknowledged the state had enough evidence to convict her at trial.

According to the warrant for Grochowski’s arrest, Grochowski forged Hance’s signature on 591 checks and two withdrawal slips and stole $851,811 between January 2010 and May 2016, when Hance fired Grochowski.

Authorities do not know where the money went, but when confronted by Hance in early 2015 about the embezzlement of $4,829, Grochowski admitted the forgery and said she needed the money for medical expenses, according to the warrant. After that incident, Hance kept Grochowski as an employee, set up a repayment plan and did not notify police.

In May 2016 more problems with checks were found, and Hance determined that Grochowski’s alleged thefts were more extensive. A forensic audit by an accounting firm, and a review of thousands of pages of Grochowski’s bank records by Avon Det. Edward Espinoza and state Inspector Jack Bannan revealed the massive scale of Grochowski’s thefts.

The investigators identified 25 people they say were victimized by Grochowski, including her own father who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was under a conservatorship. Grochowski allegedly wrote herself checks from her father’s accounts and listed herself as executor of his estate, although he was still alive at the time.

The investigators also found that it wasn’t the first time Grochowski has stolen. In 1988 Grochowski was charged by Torrington police with first-degree larceny, second-degree larceny and third-degree forgery. She was convicted in November 1989 and sentenced to five years in prison.

Full Article & Source:
Winsted woman pleads guilty to stealing $850,000 from physically, mentally disabled people in conservatorships

See Also:
Woman Accused Of Stealing $851,000 From Elderly, Disabled

Enid man faces charges of exploitation involving thousands, failure to register as sex offender

ENID, Okla. — A 52-year-old Enid man is facing two life sentences after being charged with exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult and failure to register as a sex offender.

Richard Rene Mahan was charged this week with the two felony crimes, as well as a felony count of larceny and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction. Because of four prior felony convictions, he faces four years to life in prison on the exploitation and failure to register charges.

Mahan appeared for arraignment before Special District Judge Brian Lovell. Mahan's bonds were set at $21,600, $5,000 and $2,500. He was ordered to return to court Sept. 17 for a bond appearance in all three cases.

According to an affidavit filed in the obstruction case, on Aug. 10 Enid Police Department officers Shirley Blodgett and Mike Atchley were sent to Five80 Coffeehouse, 122 E. Randolph, on a report of a possible unregistered sex offender at the business.

The officers spoke with a man who identified himself as Richard Stewart, according to the affidavit. He said he did not have any identification but had already registered as a sex offender with Detective Shawn Aebi.

The officers escorted the man outside the business, and dispatch told the officers they could not find a record for Richard Stewart but did have a record for a Richard Mahan with the same birthday, according to the affidavit. The man insisted he was Richard Stewart and not Richard Mahan.

Atchley contacted Detective Nicholas Shackleford and asked him to help in identifying the man, according to the affidavit.

"Richard was very nervous and kept looking both ways down the street," Blodgett wrote in the affidavit. "At one point I asked Richard if he was going to run. Richard said no, he was just hot."

Shackleford and Detective James Buck arrived at the business, and when Mahan saw the two detectives he ran from the officers, according to the affidavit. The officers and detectives detained Mahan near Boondocks Tavern, 302 E. Maple. Mahan was positively identified and found to have warrants for his arrest out of Garfield and Harper counties.

According to an affidavit filed in the exploitation and larceny charges, on June 13 two women reported a theft from their residence in the 2400 block of Sandpiper.

One woman told Officer Bart Arnold that Mahan has been coming over to their house the past few weeks. She said each time he visits, he uses the bathroom, according to the affidavit. The way to the bathroom leads past the woman's room. That day, the woman said she checked on Mahan after he went to the bathroom and caught him with a few $100 dollar bills in his pocket.

Mahan gave the woman the money back. She told Arnold she checked with her daughter and found there was about $18,000 missing from her room, according to the affidavit. The daughter found she was missing about $3,600.

The first woman to speak with Arnold told the officer she suspected Mahan used the excuse of going to the bathroom to take money from her room, according to the affidavit.

On Aug. 10, Buck spoke with Mahan at Enid Police Department.

Buck asked Mahan if he knew why he wanted to speak with him, and Mahan told Buck he did, according to the affidavit. Mahan admitted to taking what he estimated to be $5,000 from the first woman police spoke with. He said he took the money from the woman's room over a month's time.

Mahan told Buck he had been planning on "paying them back" and said he needed the money at the time because he did not have a job, according to the affidavit.

On July 13, Shackleford was asked to help locate Mahan, who last registered as a sex offender with the address of 217 E. Hemlock.

Shackleford and Buck went to the address and were told by two employees they were cleaning out the residence, according to the affidavit. They also told the detectives the people who had lived there had moved out around July 1.

As required by law, Mahan failed to notify police three days prior to moving or abandoning a residence.

Full Article & Source: 
Enid man faces charges of exploitation involving thousands, failure to register as sex offender

Woman Accused Of Stealing $851,000 From Elderly, Disabled

Sheila Grochowski

Police have charged a Winsted bookkeeper with embezzling $851,000 from the accounts of elderly and disabled people whose finances were under the control of probate court conservatorships.

Sheila Grochowski, 70, gained access to the victims’ bank accounts through her employment with Barbara H. Hance Associates, a firm appointed by probate courts to handle the financial affairs of people under conservatorships.

According to the warrant for Grochowski’s arrest, she forged the signature of the firm’s owner, Barbara Hance, on 591 checks and two withdrawal slips and stole $851,811 between January 2010 and May 2016, when Hance fired Grochowski.

Hance could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

Authorities do not know where the money went, but when confronted by Hance in early 2015 about the embezzlement of $4,829, Grochowski admitted the forgery and said she needed the money for medical expenses, according to the warrant for Grochowski’s arrest.

After that incident, Hance kept Grochowski as an employee, set up a repayment plan and did not notify police.

In May 2016 more problems with checks were found, and Hance determined that Grochowski’s alleged thefts were more extensive. A forensic audit by an accounting firm, and a review of thousands of pages of Grochowski’s bank records by Avon Det. Edward Espinoza and state Inspector Jack Bannan revealed the extent of Grochowski’s alleged thefts.

The investigators identified 25 people they say were victimized by Grochowski, including her own father who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was under a conservatorship. Grochowski allegedly wrote herself checks from her father’s accounts and listed herself as executor of his estate, although he was still alive.

The investigators also found that in 1988 Grochowski was charged by Torrington police with first-degree larceny, second-degree larceny and third-degree forgery. She was convicted in November 1989 and sentenced to five years in prison.

In signing the warrant for Grochowski’s arrest, Hartford Superior Court Judge Laura F. Baldini set bail at $750,000. At Grochowski’s arraignment Monday in Hartford, Judge Tammy Nguyen-O’Dowd released Grochowski on a promise to appear in court.

Full Article & Source:
Woman Accused Of Stealing $851,000 From Elderly, Disabled

Caretaker charged with bilking Whitinsville man of $195K

NORTHBRIDGE - A caretaker for an elderly man who is legally blind is facing charges after she wrote a check from his bank account to herself for $195,000, which the man said he never authorized.

Gloria S. Morvan, 61, of 51 High St. in the Whitinsville section of town, was arraigned April 25 in Uxbridge District Court on a charge of larceny of more than $250 from a person over 65 or disabled. She was released on personal recognizance, although her bank account was frozen and she was ordered to stay away from the victim. Ms. Morvan is scheduled to return to court May 30.

In a statement to Northbridge police, Ms. Morvan said the money was a gift from her client. “He said he wanted to help me because I helped him,” she told police. “He said he had more money than he knew what to do with it. I never asked for it.”

She told police she used the money to purchase a condominium at 51 High St., Whitinsville, for $160,000. An additional $15,000 went to pay closing and other legal costs and to refinish the first floor of the condo. The remaining roughly $20,000 was in her bank account.

Records from the Worcester County Registry of Deeds show that Ms. Morvan purchased the property with cash on Feb. 28. On April 6 the property was transferred from Ms. Morvan to the Gloria Morvan Trust.

According to court documents, Ms. Morvan had been working part-time as a caretaker since October for Harold Swart, 83, who lives in the Cotton Mill Apartments at 17 Douglas Road. Mr. Swart is legally blind and paid Ms. Morvan in cash to help him with chores such as paying bills and grocery shopping.

In the report prepared by Northbridge Patrolman Matthew Leonard, Mr. Swart told police that he would sign checks with Ms. Morvan’s assistance, through two sets of eyeglasses, and she would write the check out to whomever he was paying.

Mr. Swart told police he became suspicious of Ms. Morvan because she had helped him get a new ATM card and it never came in the mail. He asked an employee at the apartment complex to look at his Santander Bank statements and the employee noticed a $195,000 withdrawal and a check made out to Ms. Morvan in January.

The statement showed that the check had cleared after being deposited through the ATM at Bank of America in Uxbridge, although Ms. Morvan said she deposited the check inside the bank.

Mr. Swart also said he was missing a complete book of checks assigned to his account.

On April 20 Officer Leonard went to Worcester Superior Court to request Ms. Morvan’s bank records.

Lt. Timothy Labrie filed to freeze Ms. Morvan’s accounts and took a sworn statement from Mr. Swart that Ms. Morvan helped him write out checks for bills such as National Grid and cable TV but he never authorized her to write out the check to herself in the amount of $195,000.

Police arrested Ms. Morvan on April 24 at her condo.

Mr. Swart also told police that he owned a car, in which Ms. Morvan would drive him, but she had kept the car and wouldn’t give it back to him. Police returned the car to Mr. Swart.

Lt. Labrie said in an interview that Santander Bank, where Mr. Swart has his account, did not contact Mr. Swart to question the $195,000 personal check to Ms. Morvan, even though he had never signed a check for anything nearly that large.

Although Mr. Swart filed a claim of fraudulent activity directly with the bank, police have not heard yet whether Santander will cover the $195,000 loss to Mr. Swart.

Full Article & Source:
Caretaker charged with bilking Whitinsville man of $195K

Suspended Boston lawyer to be arraigned on 26-count indictment

A Boston lawyer allegedly bilked friends, clients, and others out of nearly $250,000 in a series of schemes “fueled by drugs, gambling, and a penchant for the high life,” prosecutors said Tuesday.

Wassem M. Amin, 31, was ordered held on $1 million bail after being indicted on 26 charges, including fraud and larceny. His alleged victims included two young immigrants who had asked for his help starting companies, along with a former girlfriend he had hired.

Over time, the spoils of his deeds included a Mercedes-Benz S-class sedan and a Canal Street penthouse that cost close to $11,000 a month, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

But Amin was suspended from law practice this year and arrested over the summer. When he found out that one of his victims had lodged a complaint with the state Board of Bar Overseers and Boston Police, Amin sent a threatening text message, prosecutors said.

Full Article & Source:
Suspended Boston lawyer to be arraigned on 26-count indictment

Former Attorney Avoids Prison in Larceny Case Involving Disabled Client

John Fritz told a judge recently that his former attorney's theft of his money left him severely depressed, nervous, angry and distrustful of lawyers, the courts and people in general.

Fritz, a disabled Wethersfield resident, had a chance to address Judge Joan K. Alexander before she sentenced his long-time former attorney and conservator, Michael Schless, at Superior Court in New Britain on March 18.

Newington police last year charged Schless with stealing about $48,000 from Fritz. Schless, 78, entered a no contest plea to first-degree larceny in February.

"Michael Schless stabbed me in the back and he only looked out for himself," Fritz said.

Fritz told the judge he has had cerebral palsy his entire life, and he had received $120,000 from his late mother, money which Schless was supposed to help him manage.

"I think he was stealing money for a long time," Fritz said. "In the past I trusted people, and trusted lawyers and the courts. Now, I don't trust people anymore. I told the probate court something was wrong and the court ignored me."

According to Fritz, what happened made him severely depressed. He stopped eating properly and lost over 80 pounds. For years, he had a home health aide to help him brush his teeth, but Schless claimed he couldn't afford an aide and cancelled that service, Fritz said. He told the judge his lower teeth rotted and had to be pulled out. "It was awful for me," Fritz said.

Fritz said Schless wasn't paying his bills or rent properly, subjecting him to fines and penalties. When he complained, he said probate court officials didn't do anything about it........

Full Article & Source:
Former Attorney Avoids Prison in Larceny Case Involving Disabled Client

Stamford Attorney Accused of Pilfering from Estate

A Stamford attorney is facing larceny and forgery charges amidst allegations that he pocketed thousands of dollars from the estate trust of Stamford woman and her son and their heirs.

The family went to Stamford Police in November after they discovered that thousands of dollars were never deposited to the trust, according to police.

According to police, attorney Morris Glucksman “was the person responsible for all documents and transactions regarding the trust and he could not provide an answer for the discrepancies of the monies.”

Lt. Diedrich Hohn said the heirs “after he offered them $40,000 to make it go away and they balked and came to police.”

Police said in a statement, “Property Crime investigators discovered that Attorney Glucksman forged several signatures and utilized a forged notary stamp that made him the sole beneficiary of the trust. The family had been asking for Glucksman to provide proper paperwork showing that he was the sole heir and executor since 2013.”

Glucksman is accused of using “many stalling techniques all (the) while spending the family’s money. Investigators were able to prove that the notary stamp was altered thus leading investigators to substantiate the forgery angle of the investigation.

Glucksman allegedly withdrew $25,000 from the deceased woman’s account one day after her death at the age of 91. The 68-year-old Glucksman is accused of selling “many articles of sports memorabilia totaling $33,000 in cash and not putting the money into the trust. He rented out a Stamford Property owned by the trust for several years, all while collecting rent and pocketing the money. He finally sold the Stamford property and currently still has not distributed any of the monies towards the trust,” according to police.

According to Hohn, the woman left her estate to her son who passed away from lung cancer a year later. Their heirs are nieces and nephews.

So far, police have been able to substantiate the theft of $58,000, according to Hohn. “It is still an open investigation. We don’t know how much money might be in escrow.” Hohn said financial crimes investigators are continuing to review records to determine whether there is more money missing from the trust.

“Right now we can prove $58,000,” Hohn said.

On Thursday morning, Stamford Police arrested Glucksman at his 706 Bedford St. law office where he maintains a practice for wills, trusts, estate planning, landlord-tenant and family law. He was charged with one count each of first-degree larceny and second-degree forgery.

“He has property in Florida and travels there. We wanted to arrest him before he left,” Hohn said.
Hohn also said, “He (Glucksman) has had three similar complaints against him. We want to put this out there because there might be other victims out there.”

Glucksman posted $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Feb. 29 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Hohn and Capt. Richard Conklin praised the lead investigator Sean Coughlin, Sgt. Steven Perrotta and Officer Michael Stempien for “aggressively investigating this larceny perpetuated upon by an attorney who was entrusted by an elderly deceased member of the Stamford Community.”

They said, “The SPD aggressively investigates these crimes and we go to all lengths to make arrests that adversely affect the personal sanctity of any Stamford resident’s financial security. The family was notified of the arrest and was elated by the arrest and by the actions of the officers.”

Full Article & Source:
Stamford Attorney Accused of Pilfering from Estate

Police: Employee stole $4.6K from elderly victim

Andi Michelle Shaw

A 24-year-old Gulf Breeze woman is facing felony charges after police said she stole $4,600 from an elderly person while working at The Blake, an assisted living facility in Gulf Breeze.

Andi Michelle Shaw was arrested Aug. 12 on 11 counts of writing bad checks; 11 counts of forgery; one count of exploitation of the elderly; and one count larceny.

Deputies responded to The Blake on July 30 after a friend of the victim reported several “unusual transactions” on the victim’s checking account statement. She told police checks were made out to Shaw, which the victim never authorized.

According to the report, Shaw told the friend that the victim wanted her to have the money and that she used it to pay bills. The victim said she had no knowledge that Shaw used her checks.

Shaw was released on $14,000 bond.

Full Article & Source:
Police: Employee stole $4.6K from elderly victim

As elder abuse increases in Wyoming, officials work on educating public

Fraud, larceny charges are possible in some cases

Donna Navarrete used more than $8,000 of an 87-year-old man’s state pension to pay her own bills instead of his medical costs.

Rae J. Bosley spent $800 of a woman’s Social Security funds at a popular gambling destination in Colorado.

Lynne M. Poole transferred $14,700 of her mother’s money to her and her husband’s accounts, and was suspected of making unauthorized purchases and ATM withdrawals of more than $20,000.

In recent years, all three women were sentenced in Laramie County District Court to first-offender probation and ordered to pay back tens of thousands of dollars for abusing or exploiting vulnerable adults.

Their cases are examples of what can happen when court-appointed guardians, caretakers or family members with the wrong intentions have access to a vulnerable person’s finances.

As our nation continues to age, and many people choose to age at home, advocates are trying to call attention to elder abuse -- a crime that seems to be increasing in frequency.

“It’s absolutely escalating, and I think what we’re finding is that people just aren’t educated about it,” Kristi Skinner said last month during the Wyoming Conference on Aging.

Skinner recently became the program analyst for Adult Protective Services within the state’s Department of Family Services.

She said her task is going to be “getting out across the state and letting folks know: This is a problem.”

The Wyoming Conference on Aging last month highlighted elder abuse as an important issue, bringing in a California prosecutor who speaks passionately about pursuing people who perpetrate crimes against older individuals.

Laramie County District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg said he feels the same.

“I was really very close to my grandparents, so any time I see that happening to anybody in society who’s a vulnerable adult, or potentially so, I take that very seriously,” he said.

“If we’re not protecting the vulnerable people in our society, then what the heck are we here for?”

Dorothy Thomas has worked as the program analyst for Adult Protective Services within DFS for the past nine years.

She described abuse of vulnerable adults as a “silent epidemic.”

“It’s family and caregivers who are perpetrating the crimes, which only makes elders and vulnerable adults more fearful” or hesitant to report them, she said.

Thomas compiled a report published in December that outlines the monetary toll that financial exploitation of vulnerable adults takes on state services.

National researchers have estimated that as many as 44 cases of financial exploitation go unreported for every case that is reported, according to Thomas’ report.

Statewide, six substantiated cases of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult in 2013 cost seniors and/or financial institutions $62,382.26, according to the report. The potential cost to Medicaid for those six cases was $431,072.

Cases are substantiated when the evidence gathered strongly suggests exploitation occurred. DFS can substantiate cases independent of whether criminal charges are ever filed.

Financially exploited vulnerable adults in 2013 ranged in age from 28 to 92, with the average age being 67, according to Thomas’ report.

The average financial loss per case that year was almost $10,400, with the largest amount stolen being $54,000.

In 2012, 16 victims ranged in age from 57 to 100, with the average age being 78. Those cases cost seniors and/or financial institutions nearly $790,000, and the potential cost to Medicaid that year was estimated to be just over $266,000.

The average financial loss per case that year was more than $46,000, with the largest amount stolen being $170,000.

Thomas’ report notes that there continues to be a perception that financial exploitation of vulnerable adults, especially by family members, is a civil matter, rather than criminal.

“Prosecution on a criminal level may still be possible; if not for exploitation, then for fraud or larceny,” the report says.

Sandburg echoed that sentiment.

He said it’s important for law enforcement and prosecutors to comb through every fact of a case to properly determine whether the matter should be pursued in civil or criminal court.

“We take these cases very seriously, and so we do give them that hard look, and we make sure to talk to all the interested parties,” he said.

“When you take that hard look at it, there is a prosecutable event often times that you wouldn’t find if you just looked at the affidavit or the report.”

Prosecuting vulnerable adult abuse crimes can presents challenges similar to those faced in pursuing child abuse or domestic violence.

Victims often are reluctant to report their perpetrator because in many cases it’s a family member.

“Whether it’s physical child abuse or spousal abuse or relative abuse or elderly physical abuse, you have a victim that may or may not be cooperative – that may or may not even be vocal,” Sandburg said.

He continued: “You may have a person who’s afraid -- afraid of what’s going to happen to them should the person that they are living with be taken away or their ability to stay with them be taken away.”

A guilty verdict could turn a victim’s entire future upside down.

Questions might run through his or her mind: “Am I going to lose my home? Am I going to have to go into an assisted living facility?”

As bad as things are in a victim’s current environment, the unknown can make them fear prosecution to the point they don’t want to cooperate, Sandburg explained.

“They feel they can continue to endure (their current situation),” he said.

Full Article & Source:
As elder abuse increases in Wyoming, officials work on educating public

Caregiver accused of stealing $6,500 from elderly woman

Christen Chamberlin

A caregiver was accused of fraudulently cashing 15 checks and stealing more than $6,500 from an elderly woman, Washoe County Sheriff's deputies said in a news release Wednesday afternoon.

Christen Chamberlin, 20, faces several counts including exploitation of an older and vulnerable person, forgery and larceny less than $3,500 from a person 60 or older, among other charges.

The fraud was discovered after the victim noticed inconsistencies in her bank account. She then called Chamberlin's employer and the sheriff's office.

The arrest was one among several in the past year, deputies said.

In September, detectives arrested Cherie Endicott of Sparks on several charges for stealing nearly $50,000 from an elderly woman's bank account. Endicott had pled guilty in Sparks Justice Court, authorities said.

In November, Brian Dare of Reno was also arrested and accused of altering and cashing checks from an elderly woman. Dare was being held in the Washoe County Detention Facility and is awaiting trial.

"This arrest sends a message that the sheriff's office is determined to bring justice to those who would victimize the vulnerable in our community," Sheriff Chuck Allen said in a statement. "I commend the victim for having the courage to come forward, congratulate our deputies for a successful investigation and encourage anyone who is concerned about the safety and security of an elderly person to notify law enforcement immediately."

The name and age of the victim was not immediately released pending an investigation. Deputies said they don't know of any other victims as of Wednesday afternoon.

Chamberlin's bail was set at $50,000.

Anyone with information are asked to contact the sheriff's Detective Division at 775-328-3320 or Secret Witness at 775-322-4900.

Full Article & Source:
Caregiver accused of stealing $6,500 from elderly woman