Rochester woman gets 5 years for bilking elderly couple

A Rochester woman was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for swindling an elderly couple out of their life savings.               

Carolyn Jean Cassar, 61, received a sentence 14 months longer than federal court guidelines but two years fewer than what prosecutors had sought.

“This level of cold-blooded manipulation is beyond what even a normal fraudster exhibits,” U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen told Cassar, who stood silently next to her attorney. Ericksen added, “You knew what you were doing to the victims

Cassar pleaded guilty in July to bilking her neighbors out of $840,000 over six years, using ever-more elaborate lies as she asked for increasing amounts of money

From 2006 to 2012, Cassar borrowed money from the couple in 375 transactions.

“As she earned the victims’ trust and discovered that they believed everything she said, her lies became more frequent and more outlandish,” Kim Svendsen, assistant U.S. attorney, told the judge.

“As a result of her lies, Cassar was able to have all the things the defendants denied themselves their entire lives, including lavish vacations and expensive furnishings for her home, and the victims were left with nothing,” Svendsen said.

According to the plea agreement and other court documents, Cassar persuaded the couple to give her money for travel to Washington, D.C., so she could attend to the affairs of her daughter’s death in a car crash, including buying a dress for her burial.


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Rochester woman gets 5 years for bilking elderly couple

Three accused of bilking elderly Owls Head woman of more than $20,000

OWLS HEAD, Maine — Three people have been charged in connection with the theft of more than $20,000 from an elderly woman.

Caregivers Tasha Campbell, 22, of Searsmont and Alicia Rawley, 45, of Waldoboro were charged with Class C theft, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

Campbell was arrested Sept. 12 and has since been released on bail. She is scheduled to make her initial appearance in Rockland District Court on Oct. 30. Rawley was issued a summons on Oct. 2. No court date has been set for her.

Also, Terry Perry, 40, of South Thomaston was arrested Sept. 26 and charged with Class C theft in connection with the case. Perry made his initial court appearance Sept. 27 in Rockland District Court and is free on bail. He is next scheduled to appear in Knox County Superior Court on Dec. 20.
Perry is a friend of Campbell, according to the sheriff’s office.

All three admitted to Detective Donald Murray that they took the money, according to the sheriff’s office. The lengthy investigation began with a complaint fielded by Deputy Paul Pinkham.

Wednesday’s news release stated that the suspects admitted that on many occasions they used the victim’s debit and credit cards to buy items and obtain cash. The victim was unaware that her debit card was used in more than 80 transactions for cash withdrawals, the sheriff’s office reported.

Murray said Wednesday that the investigation continues and that the amount of money taken from the 75-year-old woman was significantly more than $20,000. He said the caregivers were not from a home health agency.

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Three accused of bilking elderly Owls Head woman of more than $20,000

‘Adviser’ convicted of bilking elderly Bradenton woman out of $1 million

An unlicensed financial adviser was convicted Wednesday of grand theft and other charges in a scheme to defraud an 82-year-old Bradenton woman out of $1 million.

Ronald J. Perrault, 42, was convicted on grand theft and organized scheme to defraud charges associated with them, according to a release from Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. Perrault faces up to 35 years in prison at his sentencing Dec. 4.

The state Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud found that Perrault, while acting as an unlicensed financial adviser for the woman, defrauded her of $727,000 during the last five years and more than $1 million throughout the course of their relationship, the release said.

The investigation found that the woman initially invested $50,000 in Perrault’s fraudulent business in October 2007, followed by $100,000 in December 2007, according to the release. During the next four years, Perrault convinced her to invest an additional $577,000. She continued to submit to Perrault’s demands until her account was depleted. From 2008 until his arrest in 2011, the victim was Perrault’s only client and an investigation found all funds were transferred to Perrault for personal use.

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‘Adviser’ convicted of bilking elderly Bradenton woman out of $1 million

Man Gets 11 Years For Bilking Elderly

Former Vancouver resident must also pay $3 million in restitution

A former Vancouver resident was recently sentenced in San Diego to serve 11 years in a California state prison and pay $3 million in restitution for operating a phony insurance company and bilking elderly clients.

Michael B. Woodward, 50, pleaded guilty to residential burglary, theft from an elder, theft greater than $500,000, transacting insurance without authorization and failure to file a state tax return.

His wife, Melissa J. Woodward, 48, pleaded guilty to failing to file a tax return and was sentenced to probation.

When Woodward lived in Vancouver and was selling plans to senior citizens, he was investigated — nearly two dozen times by one agency alone — but never charged with a crime.

The prosecution of Woodward, who had his license to sell insurance revoked in Washington and Oregon, was the result of an investigation by the California Department of Insurance and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Insurance Fraud Unit.

The Woodwards were arrested April 10 at their home in Las Vegas and extradited to San Diego, according to a news release from the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. They entered their guilty pleas in June and were sentenced on Aug. 8 in San Diego County Superior Court.

400 victims
Their approximately 400 victims in California, including more than 200 people in San Diego, ranged in age from 80 to older than 100.

“(The Woodwards) would target elderly senior citizens at their homes, telling them that for a prepaid annual fee, the victim could get an unlimited amount of non-medical services such as cooking, cleaning, bathing, toileting, dressing, laundry and shopping. To receive services, he told the victims, they should call him and provide a doctor’s note.”

But the Woodwards were the business’ only employees, according to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office.

The most Woodward would do for clients was hire a third party to provide services, or reimburse clients after they had to pay out-of-pocket.

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Man Gets 11 Years For Bilking Elderly