Elderly man gives up $1M in possible 'sweetheart scam'

Elderly man gives up $1M in possible 'sweetheart scam'


Sara Suddes
Posted: Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:00 am

In the two years before he died, longtime Gilroyan Arthur Marsh wrote checks to his younger caregiver for more than $1 million, sparking suspicion of a possible "sweetheart scam."

Described by loved ones as a renowned artist, lifelong bachelor and beloved uncle and brother, Marsh was as much as the embodiment of those characteristics as "frugal" and "tight with money," family and friends said. They were thus dumbfounded to learn that the woman they thought was providing their uncle with companionship and routine care accepted "way more than we even knew he had," a niece said.

Angelina Alhadi, 56, faces a civil lawsuit brought on by Marsh's family, an investigation by the District Attorney and a possible investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. According to the civil suit and family members, Alhadi purchased a $1 million home in northwest Gilroy, installed a pool, and took herself and her three children on a cruise with the help of Marsh's money – extravagant purchases that, combined with Marsh's age, alerted authorities. Marsh's family, meanwhile, hopes to recover the money their uncle worked so hard to earn.

"Equally, our concern is that she is still out there," said Judy Marsh, Arthur Marsh's niece by marriage. "There's been nothing to stop her from doing this again and again. It just seemed cruel to take advantage of someone so vulnerable and to break all written and unwritten rules of being a caregiver."

With the help of Richard Lambie, acting as trustee of Marsh's estate, the family is working to recover the assets their uncle lost. Alhadi cashed 47 checks written by Marsh totaling about $1 million between January 2007 and October 2008, according to the lawsuit. Some of those checks were written as loans, but none of the money was ever repaid, and nine of the checks were in the amount of $100,000 even though her agreed-upon monthly salary was $5,000, according to the lawsuit.

Marsh also wrote a check for $25,000 with "Trip" in the memo, according to the lawsuit. Marsh, Alhadi and Alhadi's three children took a cruise during the summer of 2008 that Alhadi claimed one of her children had won. In fact, Marsh paid for the trip, though he "did not enjoy the cruise, as he was often left alone in a wheelchair while (Alhadi) and her children went off on various activities," according to the lawsuit.

Neither Alhadi nor her attorney, Stephen Picone, returned multiple phone calls. However, Alhadi denied the majority of the allegations in her attorney's response to the lawsuit.

So frugal was Marsh that he initially expressed annoyance with how Alhadi's long-distance phone calls tacked $8 or $9 onto his phone bill, said Dick Person, Marsh's nephew by marriage. Marsh was gradually "taken in" by Alhadi, writing as many as four checks for $100,000 in one day, Person said.

"He was so ashamed of himself for being taken," Person said, remembering a conversation he had with his uncle shortly before his death. "It bothered the heck out of me."

In January 2007, the value of Marsh's bank account neared $3 million. By October 2008, it had been reduced to $1.3 million, according to the lawsuit. A psychiatric evaluation revealed that Marsh was "unable to recollect how much money he had given to (Alhadi) and for what reasons," according to the lawsuit.

Alerted by a financial institution that "something was amiss," various public agencies that comprise the county's Financial Abuse Specialist Team jumped into action, said Deputy District Attorney Cherie Bourlard with the Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Unit.

"When we receive a tip, we all immediately gather to figure out the best way to protect the victim," Bourlard said. The team was in the middle of extracting Marsh from Alhadi's care when he died Feb. 13, 2009.

His death at the age of 93 complicates the cases against Alhadi, but Bourlard said that her cases "are never closed."

"She may have claimed she was doing this out of the kindness of her heart but she was really doing it for the goodness of her wallet," Bourlard said.

Though the investigating officer forwarded the case along to the IRS, who "expressed interest," according to Bourlard, IRS spokesman Jesse Weller would not confirm whether it was investigating Alhadi because of privacy disclosure laws.

"The IRS takes referrals from all sources and we take them seriously," Weller said.

However, it appears that the IRS has not yet filed charges, according to a search of U.S. appellate, district, and bankruptcy court records.

Born in Plentywood, Mont., Arthur "Art" Marsh was the fifth of seven siblings and happened upon the Golden State during his time stationed at a hospital in Menlo Park during World War II. After a stint at University of California, Los Angeles, Marsh went to Oregon to earn his bachelor's and Doctor of Optometry degrees, then opened up his own practice downtown on Monterey Street, said longtime friend Bob Lesko.

In his free time, Marsh participated in local American Legion Post No. 217 and served as an usher and greeter at St. Mary Church – two beneficiaries of Marsh's trust. After retiring in 1981, he became a self-taught artist, churning out canvases by the dozens.

Lesko, who often met Marsh at Gilroy Bowl for Sunday breakfast, remembered teaming up with the retired doctor – Lesko snapping photos of nature as a hobbyist photographer, Marsh transforming those bucolic scenes into oil or acrylic paintings, such as the one of Spain's rolling hills and tiled rooftops hanging in the Leskos' kitchen. An award-winning painting also hung in City Hall for some years, Lesko said. Lined with "Art's art," Judy Marsh's hallway displays only a few of the hundreds of paintings he produced over the years.

For nearly 50 years, Marsh climbed the stairs to his second-story apartment on Carmel Street with ease but a tumble from the landing severely limited his movement and prompted him to rely on others for even the most basic of errands, according to the lawsuit.

Recovering from a bout of dehydration, Marsh met Alhadi in 2007. She printed her phone number and name on a card and taped it on the inside of Marsh's address book, Judy Marsh said.

"From that day on, he was determined to go home with Angelina," Judy Marsh said. "She was his key to independence."

But the promise of freedom and what may have become a one-sided romantic relationship on Marsh's part eventually led to near complete isolation, authorities and family said.

"Usually by the time we come around, most people become so isolated, their abuser tends to become their whole world," said Susan Fowle, a deputy public guardian investigator.

The family that initially thought of their uncle's new caregiver as "a gift from God," eventually noticed a decline in his phone calls, they said.

"We could never talk to him," Person said. "She said he was always napping or in the bathroom."

When authorities inspected his living quarters, they found an apartment that was "disgustingly filthy," Judy Marsh said, while Alhadi lived across town in a "well-to-do mansion," Bourlard said.

Alhadi's house in northwest Gilroy cost more than $1 million when she bought it in July 2007, according to the lawsuit. The house is in the process of foreclosure and has a current market value of about $700,000. Alhadi also argued Marsh into paying $22,000 to help build a new pool at the home, according to the lawsuit. Before he did so, he bickered with Alhadi because "he felt she should not be installing a pool until the house was paid off," according to the lawsuit.

Though Marsh's family believed Alhadi initially provided their uncle with the care he required, it eventually devolved to an unacceptable level, they said.

"They found a lot of receipts from Kentucky Fried Chicken," Judy Marsh lamented. "We thought he was being so well taken care of."

The civil case will next be heard Jan. 4 for a trial setting conference

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http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/community/article_fd41ae80-9915-5302-a98c-9f16dc1853c2.html

Editor's note: The heirs of the Estate of Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto's courtroom, would also like to recover the million dollar estate squandered by the court and its parasites.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

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