Editor's note: This Shark believes the pillaging attorneys of estates under the ward ship of the Probate Court of Cook County get a pass from the legal system. Estates such as Gore, Sykes, Tyler, Wyman and Cefalu are robbed just as the Missouri case below and yet nothing is done to punish the perpetrators. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Missouri prosecutor admits stealing $540k from elderly client
2014-11-27T10:39:00Z 2014-11-28T14:22:07Z Missouri prosecutor admits stealing $540k from elderly client The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. • A lawyer who was elected this month as a northwestern Missouri county prosecutor won’t be serving in that role after all, having pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing more than half a million dollars from an elderly client.
Richard F. Turner, 39, of Bethany, Mo., pleaded guilty Wednesday in Kansas City to one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements on his tax return, according to U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson’s office. He also pleaded guilty to an asset forfeiture count.
Turner, who previously had served as Harrison County prosecutor and was again elected to that post Nov. 4, admitted trying to steal roughly $728,000 from his client but managing to obtain only $540,803.
More than $327,000 of the money was spent paying off and improving his home in Bethany — including installing a swimming pool — while a portion also went toward trying to prop up his struggling clothing store, Richard’s/TD Clothiers.
“This is an egregious case of elder abuse,” Dickinson said. “When those in positions of responsibility and trust abuse the elderly, we will bring the full resources of federal and state law enforcement to bring them to justice.”
Turner admitted through his plea that from 2005 to 2011, his income diminished but his spending increased. He also admitted that he didn’t pay at least $150,000 worth of state and federal income taxes on the embezzled money.
Prosecutors said Turner obtained a durable power of attorney in October 2004 for his client, who was born in 1920 and declared incapacitated in March 2011.
Turner’s money problems started in January 2011, when he received a foreclosure notice for his home. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy less than two weeks after receiving that notice. That summer, he made arrangements to sell his client’s farmland with the intent of keeping some or all of the proceeds, documents showed.
On July 12, 2011, his bankruptcy case was dismissed on his own motion. Nineteen days later, Turner opened an individual checking account for his client and deposited $576,329 from the sale of the farmland.
The scheme unraveled earlier this year when U.S. Bank froze a trust account in his client’s name and its investigator contacted law enforcement.
Richard F. Turner, 39, of Bethany, Mo., pleaded guilty Wednesday in Kansas City to one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements on his tax return, according to U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson’s office. He also pleaded guilty to an asset forfeiture count.
Turner, who previously had served as Harrison County prosecutor and was again elected to that post Nov. 4, admitted trying to steal roughly $728,000 from his client but managing to obtain only $540,803.
More than $327,000 of the money was spent paying off and improving his home in Bethany — including installing a swimming pool — while a portion also went toward trying to prop up his struggling clothing store, Richard’s/TD Clothiers.
“This is an egregious case of elder abuse,” Dickinson said. “When those in positions of responsibility and trust abuse the elderly, we will bring the full resources of federal and state law enforcement to bring them to justice.”
Prosecutors said Turner obtained a durable power of attorney in October 2004 for his client, who was born in 1920 and declared incapacitated in March 2011.
Turner’s money problems started in January 2011, when he received a foreclosure notice for his home. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy less than two weeks after receiving that notice. That summer, he made arrangements to sell his client’s farmland with the intent of keeping some or all of the proceeds, documents showed.
On July 12, 2011, his bankruptcy case was dismissed on his own motion. Nineteen days later, Turner opened an individual checking account for his client and deposited $576,329 from the sale of the farmland.
The scheme unraveled earlier this year when U.S. Bank froze a trust account in his client’s name and its investigator contacted law enforcement.
