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Showing posts with label stealing from elderly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stealing from elderly. Show all posts
Editor's note: This Shark asks why bail is not set for the Probate Court of Cook County judges stealing from elderly? Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Judge sets bail for couple convicted of stealing from elderly friend
Robert Ballew waits to take the stand during his sentencing hearing Jan. 14, 2015, at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. Ballew and his wife, Ivy Rasmussen, were sentenced to 8-to-20 years in prison after being convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from their elderly friend Elliott Smith. A judge ordered $20,000 bail Monday for a couple while their conviction is on appeal. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas review-Journal
Judge sets bail for couple convicted of stealing from elderly friend
Ivy Rasmussen waits to take the stand during her sentencing hearing Jan. 14, 2015, at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. Rasmussen and her husband, Robert Ballew, were sentenced to 8-to-20 years in prison after being convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from their elderly friend Elliott Smith. A judge ordered $20,000 bail Monday for a couple while their conviction is on appeal. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas review-Journal
A judge ordered $20,000 bail Monday for a couple convicted of stealing their friend’s retirement savings in his last years of life.
The Nevada Supreme Court recently ruled that Robert Craig Ballew and his wife, Ivy Rasmussen, should be given a bail hearing while their conviction is on appeal.
Defense lawyer Tony Sgro said the cash posted would be held and put toward a restitution should the high court uphold the couple’s conviction.
Ballew and Rasmussen, both former Clark County School District employees, have spent a little more than a year in prison after a jury convicted them of bilking their longtime friend Elliott Smith out of more than $150,000 in about a year and a half.
Attorneys for 70-year-old Ballew and his 63-year-old wife have said their health has diminished since being imprisoned on more than a dozen conspiracy, theft and elderly exploitation charges. Ballew suffers from skin cancer and dementia, while Rasmussen has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Smith’s stepdaughter, Sue Sweikert, called the bail “a pittance.”
“I’m thinking justice delayed is justice denied,” she said. “We’ve just gotten more delays.”
District Judge Stefany Miley ordered that the couple also pay $1,000 each per month and remain on house arrest while awaiting appeal. The monthly payments also would go toward restitution.
In January 2015, Miley sentenced the couple to eight to 20 years in prison.
At the time, Sweikert had asked the judge for the maximum sentence.
“They had no sympathy for my parents, who were elderly and in ill health,” Sweikert said Monday.
Prosecutor J.P. Raman asked Miley for a bail of $153,000, equal to the amount of restitution Ballew and Rasmussen were ordered to pay. Since being convicted, neither has contributed any money to the restitution.
He called the health issues “some of the least compelling” reasons to release the couple.
“They were well enough to do the crime,” he said. “They should do the time.”
Authorities said Rasmussen and Ballew became greedy as their careers wound down and stole every penny they could from Smith, who considered them close friends.
Ballew, a teacher who retired after 36 years, and Rasmussen, a guidance counselor who resigned from the school district in November, brought Smith into their home after his wife, Sandra, was hospitalized and under constant care for the rest of her dying days.
The couple used money from Smith, who suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, to make purchases small and large, from charges at Starbucks to checks made out for foreign cars, according to court records.
Smith’s relatives believe the couple took even more than what a jury convicted Ballew and Rasmussen of stealing. At least $100,000 in cash that Smith kept in a safe went missing, his family said, but the jury acquitted the couple of taking that money. In the last years of his life, Smith told family members he was worth about $600,000, with $300,000 set aside for his wife’s medical bills. Smith did not learn about the theft until a few months before he died, broke, at age 84 in 2010.
In January 2010, when the Sweikerts went to collect Smith’s remaining possessions at the home of Ballew and Rasmussen, they spotted a picture on a bookshelf. It was a studio portrait of Smith’s grandchildren, daughter and late son — the family dearest to his heart.
At his North Las Vegas home, Smith kept the photograph in an elaborate oak frame. In Ballew’s home, the frame had been replaced with a cheap plastic border emblazoned with the word “Friends.”
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker
Police: Sarasota home health aide stole thousands from elderly client
Posted:
Jan 22, 2015 1:22 PM CST Updated:
Jan 23, 2015 11:00 AM CST
By WFLA.com web staff
Megan Craig, 25
A home health is arrested for stealing thousands of dollars from her elderly client.
Megan Craig, 25, was a home health aide for Youthful Aging in Sarasota, Fl.
Officials say Craig began working as a caregiver to the 91-year-old victim, who suffers from age related dementia, in the Fall of 2013.
Craig was responsible for providing the victim with her medication, errand running, grocery shopping and basic cleaning around the house.
When grocery items and other things that needed to be purchased, Craig would take the victim to the store. The victim would purchase the items using his/her credit card.
According to an arrest affidavit, Craig slowly started signing for purchases while the victim was there and progressed to making purchases, using the victim's credit card, while the victim was not present.
While Craig was authorized to make purchases for the victim, officials say, she was only allowed to purchase grocery items and medication for the victim.
It was the victim's daughter in law who contacted officials with receipts and transactions that showed Craig began to purchase gifts cards in various amounts between May-August 2014.
According to the affidavit, Craig is accused of making more than 30 purchases at Publix stores between May and August 2014 totaling more than $3,900, as well as 10 gift cards at Walmart stores. In all, officials have accounted for $4,926.11 in unauthorized gift cards believed to have been purchased, by Craig, using the victim's credit card.
Officials have charged Craig with felony exploitation of an elderly person.
YAKIMA, Wash. — A 90-year-old Sunnyside woman who had almost $20,000 stolen from her checking account is a victim of one of the more common forms of elder abuse, according to one expert.
“Financial exploitation is a significant issue,” said Lori Brown, director of Southeast Washington Aging and Long Term Care, an area agency on aging. “It is the primary issue relating to adult protective services.”
Brown and a Yakima County sheriff’s detective recommend that people find a trustworthy person — or more than one — to handle the finances of elderly relatives who may not be able to do it themselves.
Christina Contreras, 39, of Sunnyside was recently arraigned in Yakima County Superior Court on a single count of first-degree theft related to 57 unauthorized withdrawals from the woman’s checking account. Contreras worked as an in-home caregiver for the woman since August 2012, according to an affidavit filed by Sunnyside police.
Brown said in some cases it is a family member who is taking money from the elderly victim. She said the person may have relied on the grandparent or parent for money in the past, and dependency has turned into exploitation.
Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Mike Russell said his office has handled many similar cases. Part of the challenge, Russell said, is that an elderly person with memory issues may not remember if he or she authorized a family member or friend to spend money in a particular way.
Advocates for the elderly will be pushing the Legislature for funding to enhance aging services to address issues such as financial exploitation, Brown said.
She said people should consider alternatives to guardianship, which requires going to court, to help an elderly relative manage his or her affairs. A durable power of attorney that would allow a trusted family member or friend to handle financial matters is one alternative.
Russell said a simple way to reduce the risk of financial exploitation is to have more than one person working together on the finances, creating greater accountability.
The Sunnyside woman discovered the theft in May, when she asked a neighbor for help with a bank statement, according to the affidavit. The statement showed withdrawals made through an ATM, which the woman said she never used and did not know what an ATM was, the affidavit said.
Police checked the bank records and found ATM withdrawals from Nov. 5, 2013, to May 27, 2014, when Contreras was no longer employed by the woman, the affidavit said. Security camera photos from the ATM show Contreras making all but one of the transactions; the single transaction was made by another, unidentified person.
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
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.
BROOKVILLE - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that a Preble County attorney has been found guilty of stealing money from multiple elderly or disabled residents while working as the guardian of their estates.
James Thomas Jr., 38, of Brookville, pleaded no contest to a bill of information this morning charging him with three counts of theft from an elderly person or disabled adult and three counts of falsification. After accepting the no contest plea, visiting Judge Neal Bronson found him guilty of the charges.
The charges were filed after an investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) found that Thomas took more than $208,000 from four victims’ bank accounts between 2007 and 2013.
The victims, who range in age from 41-72, are all Preble County residents.
“As guardian of their estates, it was this defendant’s job to protect these individuals from financial exploitation, but the investigation found that he regularly used their bank accounts as his personal ATM,” said Attorney General DeWine. “Those who prey on Ohio’s vulnerable citizens should be on notice that we will do everything we can to protect our elderly and disabled citizens from those who take advantage of them.”
The falsification charges relate to the filing of false documents associated with the guardianships in Preble County probate court.
The case is being prosecuted by Attorney General DeWine’s Special Prosecutions Section. Investigators with the Preble County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.
Thomas will be sentenced on June 17.
A copy of the bill of information filed in this case can be found on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.
Editor's note: If Illinois law enforcement were on the ball this Shark would see the following headline, "Cook Co. lawyer, owner of senior care company charged with stealing millions from elderly clients."
Atlantic Co. lawyer, owner of senior care company charged with stealing millions from elderly clients
Posted:
Mar 20, 2014 10:05 AM CDT Updated:
Apr 03, 2014 10:16 AM CDT
ATLANTIC COUNTY - Four women from AtlanticCounty allegedly stole millions from elderly victims in South Jersey.
Since 2006, the women allegedly stole over $2 million from at least 10 elderly victims - and of those 10 victims, only one is still alive.
Acting Attorney General, John J. Hoffman held a press conference in Voorhees Thursday morning and explained, "We are supposed to honor our elders - but these women heartlessly exploited them."
Barbara Lieberman, a prominent 62-year-old elder law attorney from Northfield, and Jan Van Holt, a 57-year-old owner of an in-home senior care company from Linwood, were arrested on charges that they conspired to prey on elderly clients and steal their life savings.
Hoffman explained, "These defendants simply bled these victims dry."
Officials say the defendants targeted senior citizens with substantial assets, who typically didn't have any immediate family, and would offer them non-medical care, including financial and legal services.
The women then allegedly took control of their victim's finances by forging a power of attorney. Officials say the accused women added their names to the victims’ bank accounts, or transferred funds into new accounts.
"The amount that the defendants stole is truly shocking. They allegedly stole close to half a million just from this one Margate couple. And Lieberman allegedly stole more than $600,000 from another Margate resident - a woman who was in her 90s," e90'sained Hoffman.
NBC40 talked to a man who identified himself as Van Holt's son, who says his mom is innocent, and blamed Lieberman for his mother's incarceration.
Eddie Van Holt said, "My mom has not stolen any money from them. It's Barbara who has done the wills and stuff. My mom was only paid for her services…She would always choose clients who had no family."
But officials say both women allegedly referred clients to each other, and used the trust gained with their clients to ultimately, steal their life savings…a scheme that had been going on for years.
"What they did was nothing short of evil - even stealing from these victims after they had passed away," said Hoffman.
Van Holt’s sister, 58-year-old Sondra Steen of Linwood, and a former employee 55-year-old Susan Hamlett of EggHarborTownship, who worked for them as an aid for elderly clients, were also arrested and charged in the case. These two women were charged with second-degree theft by deception.
Lieberman and Van Holt are lodged in jail, with bail set at $300,000 wand charged by complaint with first-degree money laundering, second-degree conspiracy and second-degree theft by deception.
Officials say this is an ongoing investigation and they encourage anyone with additional information to contact them at 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
--
Here is the entire news release from the NJ Attorney General's Office:
Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a prominent Atlantic County attorney who specializes in elder law and the owner of an in-home senior care company were arrested on charges they conspired to prey on elderly clients and steal their life savings. The two women allegedly stole over $2 million from at least 10 victims. The company owner’s sister and a former employee also are charged in the investigation by the State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice. The following two women were arrested yesterday in the ongoing investigation. They are charged by complaint with first-degree money laundering, second-degree conspiracy and second-degree theft by deception for allegedly stealing from the victims, who lived in Atlantic and Cape May counties.
-Barbara Lieberman, 62, of Northfield, the attorney, was arrested at her home on Northwood Court. Search warrants were executed there and at her law office on New Road in Northfield. She was lodged in jail with bail set at $300,000. The state froze approximately $5 million in assets Lieberman holds in various accounts, which it will seek to use for restitution.
-Jan Van Holt, 57, of Linwood, the owner of “A Better Choice,” a company that purportedly offered seniors “custom designed life care and legal financial planning,” was arrested at her home on West Vernon Avenue. She also was lodged in jail with bail set at $300,000.
Investigators previously filed charges of second-degree theft by deception against Van Holt’s sister, Sondra Steen, 58, of Linwood, who lives with her and helped her operate “A Better Choice,” and Susan Hamlett, 55, of Egg Harbor Township, who worked for them as an aid for elderly clients. The defendants allegedly targeted elderly clients with substantial assets who typically did not have any immediate family, offering them non-medical care and assistance, including financial and legal services.
The defendants allegedly took control of the finances of their victims by forging a power of attorney or obtaining one on false pretenses. The defendants then added their names to the victims’ bank accounts or transferred the victims’ funds into new accounts they controlled. Thereafter, the defendants allegedly siphoned away the money to pay their own expenses, including, for Van Holt, two Mercedes cars, a Florida condo, pool supplies and veterinary bills for her pets. Lieberman allegedly used stolen funds to pay off six-figure credit card bills. In one case, the defendants allegedly put a reverse mortgage for $195,000 on a 94-year-old woman’s home. That victim died in a nursing home because she could not afford to live in her home after her assets allegedly were stolen. Lieberman and Van Holt also executed the wills of some of the victims and allegedly continued to steal from their estates after they died.
“These women allegedly preyed ruthlessly on elderly clients, most of whom were facing the end of life without family and with only their savings to ensure they would be cared for properly,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “We’re supposed to honor our elders, but these women heartlessly exploited them, allegedly stripping them of their life savings and their ability to live out their final days in comfort, peace and dignity. This is an ongoing investigation, and we urge any individuals who suspect that they or their loved ones may have had their assets stolen by these defendants to notify us.”
Acting Attorney General Hoffman noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has a toll-free tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to report financial fraud and other crimes confidentially.
Acting Attorney General Hoffman made the announcement with Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice, Major Raymond Guidetti, Commander of the Intelligence Section of the New Jersey State Police, and Director David Rebuck of the Division of Gaming Enforcement. Director Rebuck dedicated resources from his division to conduct the investigation, including personnel assigned to the Division of Gaming Enforcement from the State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice.
“We allege that these defendants were wolves in sheep’s clothing, entering the lives of their vulnerable victims as caregivers, only to shamelessly steal all they owned,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “It is particularly egregious that Lieberman, a lawyer, and Van Holt, a former social worker, both of whom had careers ostensibly dedicated to helping the elderly, instead would choose to harm them.”
“These women have committed outrageous breaches of trust by preying on elderly victims, who are so often easy targets of financial crimes,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “The success of this investigation ensures that these individuals will no longer be able to victimize senior citizens of New Jersey.”
The lead detective is Detective Richard Wheeler of the New Jersey State Police Financial Crimes Unit. Deputy Attorney General Yvonne G. Maher of the Casino Prosecutions Unit is the lead prosecutor on the case, under the supervision of Deputy Attorney General Jill Mayer, Chief of the Specialized Crimes Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Paul Salvatoriello, Acting Deputy Bureau Chief.
Acting Attorney General Hoffman thanked the New Jersey Office of the Public Guardian, which initially referred the case to the State Police. Deputy Attorney General Derek Miller is handling the state’s forfeiture action.
The thefts allegedly began at least as early as 2006 and continued through 2013. Van Holt previously worked for Atlantic County Adult Protective Services as a case worker. After she left that job in 2006, she started her own business, A Better Choice, offering in-home services to senior citizens. Those who worked for the company, including Van Holt, Steen and Hamlett, performed a variety of services for clients, including household chores, errands, driving clients to appointments, scheduling, budgeting, paying bills, balancing checkbooks, and other tasks. They did not provide healthcare services. Van Holt also created a company called “Elder Hospice,” but it was nothing more than a bank account.
Van Holt allegedly referred clients to Lieberman, and vice versa. Lieberman is a leading specialist in elder law in Atlantic County who gives seminars to senior citizens on end of life affairs, wills and living wills. Lieberman allegedly would prepare powers of attorney and draft wills for the victims. In some cases, she named herself as having the power of attorney, while other times she named the other defendants. Whoever had the power of attorney allegedly would write checks or make electronic transfers to the defendants from the victim’s account or a new joint account with the victim to which the victim’s assets were transferred. Other checks and transfers allegedly were used to pay the defendants’ bills. A portion of the money, however, was used to fund the victim’s continued expenses, allegedly to keep the victim unaware of the thefts. It is alleged that, in some cases, money from one victim would be transferred to another victim to pay expenses and cover up the thefts. If the victim owned stocks or bonds, they were cashed out and the funds were deposited into the account controlled by the defendants.
The defendants would sometimes use the powers of attorney to transfer the victim’s assets into Lieberman’s Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA). Lawyers are required to maintain IOLTA accounts to safeguard funds entrusted to them by or on behalf of clients. However, Lieberman allegedly would write checks from her IOLTA account to herself, Van Holt, Steen and Hamlett.
These are examples of the crimes allegedly committed against elderly victims:
· The 94-year-old victim mentioned above first met Van Holt when Van Holt was a county case worker. At the time that the victim hired Van Holt, the victim was healthy enough and had sufficient assets to continue to live in her home in Ventnor. However, after the defendants allegedly stole $112,000 from her and secretly put the reverse mortgage on her home for $195,000, saddling her with large monthly payments, the victim was unable to pay for assistance at home and her other expenses. She was forced to move into a nursing home in Cape May Court House, where she died. In applying for the reverse mortgage, Steen allegedly falsely claimed that she was the victim’s niece.
· The defendants allegedly stole $320,000 from a woman in her nineties who met Lieberman while living at the Jeffries Tower in Atlantic City, where Lieberman offered a legal seminar for seniors. The woman hired Van Holt, who was named power of attorney for her and executrix of her will. The victim had a son and a daughter, but Lieberman allegedly refused to discuss the victim’s affairs with them, citing attorney-client privilege. The daughter, who visited her mother frequently, said she was not told when her mother was moved first to a nursing home in Galloway Township and later to the Eastern Pines Convalescent Center in Atlantic City, where she died in 2010. The defendants allegedly stole from the victim’s estate after she died.
Hamlett stopped working for Van Holt after a disagreement. At this point in the investigation, she is linked only to the alleged thefts involving those two victims. Hamlett, Van Holt and Steen all were previously charged with second-degree theft by deception in connection with the first victim above. Steen and Hamlett are free on bail.
· Lieberman allegedly stole more than $600,000 from a Margate woman who was in her nineties, using more than $300,000 to pay her personal credit card bills. She also allegedly wrote large checks from the victim’s account to other members of her immediate family. Lieberman allegedly stole half of the money before the woman died, writing checks and making electronic transfers from a new account that she opened in both the victim’s name and her name, as power of attorney. The victim was moved to Eastern Pines Convalescent Center in Atlantic City, where she died at age 95. Lieberman drafted the victim’s will and had herself named executrix, allegedly manipulating the will to enable her to continue to steal from the victim’s estate. Lieberman drafted the will to bequeath all assets other than the victim’s home to a named friend of the victim. In reality, that friend had died 11 months before the will was signed.
The defendants also allegedly stole more than $500,000 from an Atlantic City woman who died at 91; $487,000 from a Margate couple, who died at 81 and 85; $109,000 from a Northfield woman who died at 92; $72,000 from a Northfield woman who died at 85; nearly $26,000 from an Egg Harbor Township woman who died at 90; and $20,000 from a Cape May Court House woman who is 88. In each case, Lieberman, Van Holt and Steen allegedly continued to provide services to the victim while stealing the victim’s money. They allegedly hid their thefts from the victims while waiting for them to die.
First-degree money laundering carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison, including a mandatory period of parole ineligibility equal to one-third to one-half of the sentence imposed, and a fine of up to $500,000.Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Because the charges are indictable offenses, they will be presented to a grand jury for potential indictment.
Barbara Lieberman, 62, of Northfield, left, and Jan Van Holt, 57, of Linwood.
Provided by police
Sondra Steen
Sondra Steen
Provided by police
Susan Hamlett
Susan Hamlett
THE VICTIMS
94-year-old Ventnor woman: Defendants allegedly stole $112,000 from her. They also put a $195,000 reverse mortgage on her home, resulting in large monthly payments that forced her to move to a Cape May Court House nursing home, where she died.
90-something Atlantic City woman: Lost $320,000 after hiring Jan Van Holt and making her executrix of her will, authorities said. She died at a nursing home in Atlantic City, where she was moved without her daughter’s knowledge.
95-year-old Margate woman: Lieberman allegedly stole more than $600,000 from the woman, including writing large checks and making wire transfers to an account in the woman’s name for which Lieberman was executrix. Her will was manipulated to allow more money to be taken after her death.
More than $500,000: From an Atlantic City woman who died at 91.
$487,000: From a Margate couple who died at ages 81 and 85.
$109,000: From a Northfield woman who died at 92.
$72,000: From a Northfield woman who died at 85.
$26,000: From an Egg Harbor Township woman who died at 90.
$20,000: From a Cape May Court House woman who is now 88. Source: New Jersey Attorney General’s Office
A Northfield attorney and a former Atlantic County social worker were supposed to help elderly clients with financial and legal services, but instead stole their money to buy cars, vacation homes and pay off six-digit credit card bills, according to charges announced Thursday.Barbara Lieberman, 62, and Jan Van Holt, 57, of Linwood, were arrested Wednesday for taking more than $2.4 million from 10 victims beginning in 2006, acting Attorney General John Hoffman said. Nine of the victims — all from Atlantic County and in their 80s or 90s — have died. A Cape May Court House woman who allegedly had $20,000 taken from her is now 88 years old. Two other women are charged with helping the enterprise, including Van Holt’s sister, Sondra Steen, 58, of Linwood. The fourth woman, Susan Hamlett, was the one who sparked the investigation, said her attorney, Stephen Funk.
“It is, therefore, somewhat baffling that she is included in this indictment,” he said. “She is a conscientious employee, not a criminal.”
Hamlett worked for Van Holt’s A Better Choice, an in-home senior service that offered nonmedical help to seniors, including legal and financial planning.
Van Holt and Lieberman allegedly referred clients to one another, targeting seniors with substantial assets and no immediate family.
Van Holt even used her former position with Atlantic County Adult Protective Services, which she left in 2006, to find at least one victim, according to the charges. A 94-year-old died in a nursing home because she could no longer afford the payments on her Ventnor home after Steen allegedly took out a $195,000 reverse mortgage, claiming to be the woman’s niece.
“These defendants were wolves in sheep’s clothing,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “(They entered) the lives of their vulnerable victims as caregivers, only to shamelessly steal all they owned.
Lieberman — a leading specialist in elder law in Atlantic County — met one of her alleged victims while giving a legal seminar to seniors at Atlantic City’s Jeffries Tower, where the woman lived. The woman lost $320,000 after hiring Van Holt, who then got power of attorney and was named executrix of the woman’s will. She continued to be robbed even after her death in an Atlantic City nursing home, according to the charges.
Lieberman would prepare powers of attorney and draft wills for the victims, giving herself or one of the other defendants power of attorney in some cases, according to the charges. She even transferred some of the victims’ money into her Interest on Lawyers Trust Account — which is supposed to be maintained as a safeguard for funds entrusted to lawyers. Checks from that account were allegedly then cut to Lieberman or one of the other defendants.
Lieberman and Van Holt are each charged with first-degree money laundering, second-degree conspiracy and second-degree theft by deception. Both were taken to the Atlantic County Jail on $300,000 bail. Lieberman was free by Thursday evening after posting bail, according to jail records. It was not clear where the money came from as the state froze about $5 million in assets Lieberman has in various accounts. The state will seek to use that for restitution.
A man who answered the phone at Lieberman’s home Thursday evening said she would not talk to a reporter. Calls to her attorney, Steven Feldman, were not returned.
Steen and Hamlet, 55, of Egg Harbor Township, are each charged with second-degree theft by deception. That charge carries five to 10 years in prison.
Hamlett stopped working for Van Holt after a disagreement, according to the charges. She is linked to two of the cases.
In each case, Lieberman, Van Holt and Steen allegedly continued to provide services to the victim while stealing the victim’s money. They allegedly hid their thefts from the victims while waiting for them to die — then continued to steal from the estates.
Lieberman allegedly stole more than $600,000 from a Margate woman who was in her nineties, using more than half of that to pay her personal credit card bills. Van Holt is accused of using clients’ money to fund a lifestyle that included a Florida condominium and the purchase of two Mercedeses.
The defendants also allegedly stole more than $500,000 from an Atlantic City woman who died at 91; $487,000 from a Margate couple, who died at 81 and 85; $109,000 from a Northfield woman who died at 92; $72,000 from a Northfield woman who died at 85; nearly $26,000 from an Egg Harbor Township woman who died at 90; and $20,000 from a Cape May Court House woman who is 88
“These women allegedly preyed ruthlessly on elderly clients, most of whom were facing the end of their life without family and with only their savings to ensure they would be cared for properly,” Hoffman said. “We’re supposed to honor our seniors, but these women heartlessly exploited them, allegedly stripping them of their life savings and their ability to live out their final days in comfort, peace and dignity.”
Van Holt previously was a case worker for Atlantic County Adult Protective Services but left there in 2006, starting A Better Life. In 2012, she lost a lawsuit against the county, which she said failed to investigate alleged sexual harassment by a male co-worker from 2003 to 2006.
The money laundering charge carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison, with parole ineligibility for one-third to one-half of that time. The second-degree crimes carry five- to 10-year terms.
No first appearances have been scheduled for the women. Calls to lawyers said to be representing Van Holt and Steen were not returned Thursday.
The investigation is ongoing, Hoffman said. Anyone who suspects assets may have been stolen is asked to call the Division of Criminal Justice’s toll-free tipline at 866-TIPS-4CJ. Contact Lynda Cohen: 609-272-7257 LCohen@pressofac.com @LyndaCohen on Twitter
Allentown woman sentenced to state prison for betraying 'guardian angel' Marlene Fowler
Shawnta Carmon, right, and Hassan Carmon were charged with defrauding philanthropist Marlene "Linny" Fowler of more than $1 million. Shawnta Carmon pleaded guilty earlier and was sentenced this morning to state prison. (Express-Times File Photo)
An Allentown woman sentenced today to state prison for stealing $1.15 million from late philanthropist Marlene "Linny" Fowler missed her chance to try and explain the deceit to her benefactor, and apologize. Shawnta Carmon, 32, has been in Northampton County Prison on theft and related charges since Feb. 22, two and a half weeks after Fowler died on Feb. 4 at age 73.
"I never got to say sorry. Not only am I sitting in a jail cell and it's beating me up for what I did, it's beating me up that I never had a chance to explain. I never will," Carmon said today in court.
Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano sentenced Carmon to three to six years in state prison followed by nine years' probation.
Carmon became emotional as she explained to Giordano how she deceived Fowler, who made her mark helping the region's residents with the fortune of her late father, UPS chief executive Harold Oberkotter.
Carmon said she knew Fowler for decades through Fowler's well-known generosity. As a teen, she had been shot in the mouth and Fowler, she said, was the one who donated the money for her life-changing operation to repair the damage. After that, they were like family, Carmon said. Fowler was among the first to hold her four children when they were born, she said.
Carmon soon figured out Fowler would always be there for financial support, she said. When she wrecked her car, Fowler bought her a new one, she said. The millionaire put her four children through private school, even as Carmon was being evicted from her home, she said.
"I became dependent on her help. I started to stretch the truth. If the bill was $500, I would tell her it was $750," Carmon said.
In total, Carmon stole $1.15 million, said Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Jim Augustine. She wound up frittering all of it away, wasting it on gambling, cross-country trips to casinos and expensive clothing and limo rides, he said.
Augustine asked the judge to sentence Carmon to consecutive prison terms for theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. Carmon asked the court to show her leniency, saying she has addressed her addiction problems while in prison.
Giordano acknowledged Carmon's efforts to better herself in prison, but he said he could not ignore the betrayal of a woman who gave so much to Carmon and the community. With the $1.15 million she stole, the judge said, Carmon could have put her four children through Penn State and master's degree programs and still have enough money left over to buy each of them a house.
"You could have changed your whole family tree," Giordano said. "I can't imagine how you spent that money."
In sentencing Carmon to prison, the judge gave her credit for time served and made her eligible for an early release program, but he also refused to agree with any talk that Carmon was a friend to Fowler.
"I can't help, though, to believe that you did engage in this systematic deceit of your guardian angel," he said. "You can't sit here and tell me you were her friend because a friend would not do this to their friend. So don't insult me by calling yourself that."
Video: A bookkeeper at one of Mississippi’s top-rated nursing homes plead guilty to stealing more than dollars $100,000 from elderly residents and going on a shopping sprees with the funds. Most states don’t require nursing home administrators to go through background checks. TODAY’s national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen reports.
Across the United States, nursing-home residents are having their money stolen by people they know: the homes’ bookkeepers and office managers who handle their trust funds and manage their expenses.
It's a crime that's been committed against thousands of nursing-home residents, including Leo Foster’s 89-year-old mother at the Vicksburg Convalescent Center in Vicksburg, Miss.
“It made me feel sick at my stomach,” Leo’s wife Phyllis Foster told TODAY's National Investigative Correspondent Jeff Rossen. “It just didn't dawn on me that someone would be so low as to steal from a vulnerable adult.”
Police learned that a woman named Lee Ray Martin, a business office coordinator at the Vicksburg Convalescent Center and Shady Lawn Health and Rehabilitation homes, had been raiding residents’ trust accounts.
“In (a) three-month period there were 12 or 15 cash withdrawals,” Phyllis Foster said of her mother-in-law’s account. “And we knew that there was something drastically wrong.”
In August, Martin pleaded guilty to 29 counts of exploitation of a vulnerable person and one count of conspiracy. She is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from 83 residents’ trust funds and going on shopping sprees at stores like J.C. Penney, Gap, Walmart and American Eagle. In one instance, Martin bought a pair of designer jeans and expensed them to an elderly resident with no legs.
A USA TODAY investigation into thefts from nursing home trust funds found that more than 100 cases like Martin’s have been prosecuted since 2010.
“What we found was that it is just enormously easy for people to get away with this, even in really good nursing homes,” USA TODAY investigative reporter Peter Eisler told TODAY.
“In most states there are no audit requirements. The people who do the nursing home inspections really aren’t looking close at the books for these trust funds.” Know a scam? Been ripped off? Email Rossen Reports
Officials say there’s another loophole as well: In most states, there are no criminal background checks for nursing-home administrators. Someone who has been convicted for a crime of this nature can relocate to another state and get the same kind of job at another nursing home.
“And you know what I’ve found about embezzlers,” said Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood. “They’re gonna do it again. ...
“I think we oughta have mandatory background checks for anybody that works in a nursing facility.”
Officials in the long-term care industry say such theft is rare. Martin’s employer fired her, turned her in to police, reimbursed all theft victims and implemented “additional management controls” to prevent fraud.
To protect nursing-home residents from being swindled, their loved ones are encouraged to request and carefully check monthly statements from the facility. It’s also a good idea to ask for actual receipts for any purchases made for loved ones.
If fraud gets detected, here’s some good news: It’s possible to get stolen money back. Nursing homes are required to have insurance that covers this type of theft. Read the official statements in response to Rossen Reports from the Vicksburg Convalescent Center and the American Health Care Association. Have an idea for an upcoming edition of Rossen Reports? Email us.
