Bond set for Ga. trio in elderly exploitation case

BUENA VISTA, Ga. — Bond has been set for two college students whose mother is accused of scamming an elderly man out of money they paid tuition with.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Danny Jackson told the Rome News-Tribune (http://bit.ly/17hf1SH ) 54-year-old Kathryn Dawsey and her 19 and 22-year-old daughters were set to appear in court Monday.

Jackson says Kathryn Dawsey is accused of convincing the 91-year-old victim to grant her power of attorney. Jackson says she made transactions from his account after a court order restricted her from accessing his money.

Court officials say Dawsey is being held without bond in the Marion County jail on charges of theft and exploitation of an elderly adult.

Dawsey’s daughters face similar charges, and their bonds have been set at $50,000. It’s unclear if they have attorneys.

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Bond set for Ga. trio in elderly exploitation case

Chiropractor convicted of exploiting the elderly

WEST JORDAN — A Utah chiropractor has been convicted of exploiting the elderly.

Brandon Lee Babcock, 38, was convicted by a jury following a five-day trial on six counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult, all third-degree felonies. He was found not guilty of four other counts.

Babcock, a chiropractor from Cedar Hills, claimed he was able to cure diabetes and other health issues, according to prosecutors. He advertised that potential patients would be given a free consultation with a chance to “opt-out” within 30 days of beginning.

But between Oct. 26, 2010, and Feb. 22, 2012, prosecutors say Babcock charged potential clients tens of thousands of dollars, even though they told him they weren’t interested in his program.

Prosecutors outlined 11 cases in court documents, all from victims in their 70s and 80s, who were billed for loans they did not approve.

Babcock is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 25.

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Chiropractor convicted of exploiting the elderly

Belfast attorney removed from having financial control over two elderly clients

BELFAST, Maine — The Waldo County Probate Court last week acted to remove two elderly women from the control of a Belfast lawyer accused of financially exploiting them in recent years.

William Dawson had been granted power of attorney by both women. According to court documents, in one year he paid himself $149,275 from the bank accounts of one 86-year-old woman, who suffers from medical conditions including memory loss and depression. In just nine months, he paid himself $178,500 from the accounts of a 98-year-old woman, who suffers from some dementia. Both women are widows with no children and few family members living nearby.

The alleged financial exploitation apparently was brought to light first by concerned bankers, who contacted the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to say that they suspected something troubling was happening, according to the 98-year-old woman’s newly appointed guardian.

Jacquelyn Parisi of Machias, whose mother had been friends from childhood with the 98-year-old, said that she was shocked to learn of the alleged financial malfeasance.

“She is the sweetest person and very trusting,” Parisi said of the woman, whom she refers to as an aunt.

Maine Department of Health and Human Services Caseworker Joanne Cookson twice last spring interviewed the two women at the Harbor Hill assisted care facility in Belfast, where they reside. In court documents filed on May 7 to request temporary guardianship appointments for the women, Cookson wrote that both were “at risk of further possible financial exploitation and [are] in need of immediate intervention in order to have all of [their] finances preserved for [their] care.”

Multiple efforts Wednesday to contact Dawson, who is still an active, registered attorney according to the Maine Board of Bar Overseers, were unsuccessful.

Eric Walker, Waldo County Deputy District Attorney, said that the matter has been referred to his department for criminal investigation and that he would not comment further at this point.

Dawson did receive a reprimand from the bar overseers in 2011, when three separate clients filed complaints alleging that he had not done his work in a timely or competent fashion.

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Belfast attorney removed from having financial control over two elderly clients

Couple Arrested for Exploitation of the Elderly

A husband and wife were arrested Thursday for stealing from a disabled World War II Veteran who allowed them to live in his home, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

The 87-year-old victim contacted deputies in September when he discovered a few pieces of his jewelry were missing, according to a report. He later realized a large amount of jewelry that belonged to his late wife worth an estimated $50,000 was also stolen, the report states.

Kevin Babbidge and his wife, Christina Babbidge, have known the victim for 10 years and moved in with him in late August to help care for him, the report said.

Detectives learned that within days, Kevin pawned several pieces of jewelry, but also found records showing he pawned items believed to have belonged to the victim in 2012, when he was paying Kevin $200 a week to clean his home, a report stated.

Detectives have recovered about $7,600 worth of jewelry taken from the man’s home. Both suspects pleaded with the victim to allow them to make restitution and not press charges, a report said.

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Couple Arrested for Exploitation of the Elderly

Bendigo Bank (CHRISTINE FRANKHAM)

This is an over whelming story of the Watts’ family’s fight to seek justice with supporting evidence against a Bendigo Bank Manager (Christine Frankham) who used her position and trust to take advantage of their elderly mother, Yolanda Hutton.

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Bendigo Bank (Christine Frankham): This will not go away!!!

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JOIN the Bendigo Banksters Facebook Page

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Bendigo Bank (CHRISTINE FRANKHAM)

Bridgewater Financial Advisor Sentenced to 27 Months

Bridgewater resident Ralph Saviano, 72, was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in prison, following his guilty plea to mail fraud charges, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

In June, Saviano, an investment advisor with nearly 40 years experience in the area, had entered a guilty plea to charges he stole $138,000 from two elderly clients through his financial advisory company to fund a lifestyle Fishman called “lavish.” Fishman said the clients were told the funds were invested in “conservative securities and Saviano’s business.”

At the plea hearing on June 5, U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson, in Trenton federal court, entered a consent judgment and order of forfeiture in the amount of $699,926.51, which constitutes the proceeds Saviano obtained from his known investor victims as a result of his offense.

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Bridgewater Financial Advisor Sentenced to 27 Months

Trial begins for Utah chiropractor accused of bilking the elderly

In a flurry of papers, instructions, medical advice and fleeting hope, several elderly patients said the West Jordan chiropractor they trusted to take care of them instead collected their financial information and defrauded them of hundreds and thousands of dollars.

Their stories were all similar: Elderly patients suffering from diabetes or thyroid conditions who wanted a cure, who wanted to believe that Brandon Babcock, 38, could help.

“When you’re old and you’re poor and you’re desperate, you’ll do anything if you think it might help,” said Elsie Breault, 77. “I saw [Babcock’s] ad on television. It said he could stop diabetes. That he would talk things over with you and it would be free.”

Babcock’s five-day trial began Monday.

He is charged in 3rd District Court with 10 counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a third-degree felony, along with communications fraud, a second-degree felony. He faces prison time if he’s found guilty of any of the charges.

Babcock appeared in court wearing a white collared shirt and pink tie and sat quietly as his former patients — who ranged in age from 61 to 84 — took the stand to testify.

Consistent in their testimony was the hope, confusion and fear they felt in turning to Babcock to help with their medical maladies.

According to charging documents, potential patients were initially treated to a free gourmet dinner where they were shown video testimonials and given information about the chiropractor’s “diabetes breakthrough.”

When they expressed interest in the program, some said, Babcock and his staff duped them into signing up for credit without their knowledge or consent. Others said Babcock refused to refund their money despite a 30-day opt-out guarantee and a promise for 100 percent satisfaction.

“How much did that free consultation end up costing you?” the prosecutor asked Breault.

      
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Trial begins for Utah chiropractor accused of bilking the elderly

West Orange Woman Admitted to Bilking Nearly $100K From Elderly Woman

A 47-year-old West Orange woman admitted Monday to stealing nearly $100,000 from an elderly woman to pay for hotel rooms, dinners, shopping sprees and bills, authorities said.

Shawn Craig pleaded guilty Monday in a Trenton federal court today to mail fraud and filing a false personal federal income tax return, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
Nearly three years ago, Craig bilked an elderly woman’s finances when she was given power of attorney over the East Orange woman, Fishman said.

Craig used the power of attorney to divert a portion of the elderly woman’s funds —mainly socials security — to pay her automobile insurance, purchase a bar and bar stools, make a tuition payment and other expenses, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

In December of 2010, Craig submitted a reverse mortgage forging the woman’s signature on her East Orange home, the office said.

According to Fishman, Craig used the money from the reverse mortgage to purchase items at retail, such as Gucci, Coach and Nike, as well as food and travel expenses in Atlantic City, California and Florida. She also used to money to pay her bills.

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West Orange Woman Admitted to Bilking Nearly $100K From Elderly Woman

Swindled Seniors: Former California Judge to Be Sentenced, Florida Lawsuit Continues

Fort Myers, FL:
An elderly woman who earned just $1,800 in monthly income between her Social Security check and her pension was somehow persuaded to take out a life insurance policy worth $7.5 million. According to her son’s financial elder abuse attorney, the woman was saddled with a trust and allegedly persuaded to take out a loan valued at $1.1 million in order to satisfy premiums of $742,000. The woman’s son, who carries on with a Financial Elder Abuse lawsuit on behalf of his now-deceased mother, notes that such alleged deception of vulnerable individuals should serve as a rallying cry for advocates concerned about financial exploitation of seniors.

I was beside myself,” said her 55-year-old son Michael Sterling, in comments published in The News-Press of Fort Myers (9/8/13). “After I read through that policy, it was like, here’s the one guy that she and her late husband had entrusted…and then [her financial adviser] could do this to them?”

The alleged elder abuse financial issue has its roots in 2006, when Gloria J. Emmert was 79 years of age and living modestly in a manufactured home located in North Fort Myers, Florida. The widow suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Elder financial abuse is not just a problem in Florida, which is a haven for snowbirds and retirees. It happens right across the country, prompting inclusion, in 2010, of the Elder Care Justice Act as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In California, Governor Jerry Brown signed into state law Assembly Bill (AB) 381 – legislation that allows courts of law to award attorney’s fees and costs to seniors victimized by powers of attorney acting in bad faith and apart from the best interests of the senior entrusted to them.

This point was driven home by a recent case in California that saw a former Alameda County Superior Court judge plead no contest to relieving a 97-year-old neighbor of her life savings while serving as her power of attorney. According to The San Francisco Chronicle (8/2/13), Paul Seeman befriended Anne Nutting and her late husband (who died in 1999), obtaining powers of attorney for the couple. Seeman, according to charges filed in California last year, gained control of Nutting’s finances and barred her from her home from 1999 – the year her husband died – through 2007. Forcing her to take a room in a hotel for those eight years, Seeman is said to have sold off her art collection.

According to The Chronicle, Seeman stepped down from the bench in March and is barred from seeking judicial office in the state. He has also been disbarred from practicing law in the state of California and pled no contest to the charges. In a plea deal, Seeman will avoid jail time and is expected to face five years of probation when his sentencing takes place October 22. Anne Nutting passed away in 2010.

In Florida, Michael Sterling is carrying the legal torch for his late mother. According to his elderly financial abuse lawsuit, the $7.5 million life insurance policy was based on an application using fraudulent information pertaining to Emmert’s finances. Premiums on the policy were $742,000. In order to fund the premiums, a loan amortized over 30 months was arranged at an interest rate of 17.95 percent. With interest factored in, total cost of the loan ballooned to $1.1 million which, according to the lawsuit, “far exceeded the entirety” of Emmert’s assets.

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Swindled Seniors: Former California Judge to Be Sentenced, Florida Lawsuit Continues

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Ex-judge avoids jail for fleecing woman

Care giver charged with financial exploitation

HARRISBURG   — Harrisburg woman has been charged with stealing over $10,000 from an elderly person, according to a bill of information released by Saline County State’s Attorney Mike Henshaw.

Saline County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Kimberly Jean Ital, 45, 23 E. Rose St., Harrisburg, 5 p.m. Sept. 18 on charges of financial exploitation of the elderly, theft over $10,000 and three counts of aggravated identity theft. She remains held at the Saline County Detention Center on $15,000 cash bond.

Ital was a paid care giver to Karen Phelps who is over 70 years of age. According to the bill of information the charges of financial exploitation and theft over $10,000 stemmed from Ital, being in a position of trust and confidence, obtaining through deception $25,675 from Phelps.

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Care giver charged with financial exploitation