One of the most heartless scams of all.
One of our very good friends and personal heroes, a lady private
investigator by the name of "Rat Dog Dick," was the driving force
behind the investigation of the case that came to be known as "The
Digitalis Murders."
There were two main players in the story.
Main Player #1 was a lonely old man with a healthy bank account and
a clear deed on his San Francisco house.
Main Player #2 was a very much younger woman.
When the curtain fell, she had taken over the bank account and owned
the house free and clear. He was dead.
Rat Dog's amazing investigation led to murder charges against the
woman. The agent of death was digitalis. The details outlined a
classic "Sweetheart Swindle."
The victim, usually a lonely person, is most often lured into the
trap by simple attention. The heartless crook begins a slow dance of
worming his/her way into a position of trust, and then takes that
trust all the way to the bank. The spoils may be money, jewelry,
property or a variety of other things of value. It often involves
outright gifts or emergency loans of money. The result is never
pretty.
Early this year we received a call from an American college
professor who was currently living/working in Paris. He was very
concerned about his 82-year-old widowed mother and wanted to know
where he could go for help. He suspected that she was being slowly
swindled by her 63-year-old "boyfriend." Evie, although legally
blind, was sharp as a tack, and met Bruno when he began doing
handyman work for her. She was able to see well enough to get around
on her own, however she no longer had a driver's license or could
read without a magnifying glass. She had a pristine '62 Cadillac
Eldorado with 8,000 original miles on the odometer. She owned her
home (valued at three million because of its location) outright,
had nearly $700,000 in liquid cash and an equal amount in stock
certificates. By today's standards, Evie was a wealthy woman. Bruno
had nothing except a monthly SSI check, which is why he was looking
for handyman work.
Evie's son had long done his mother's taxes for her. As he went
through her box of receipts, records and bank statements for 2005,
he noticed a disturbing pattern. His mother would send Bruno out
with her bank card so that he could buy a can of paint and a brush,
and the bank machine receipt with show a withdrawal of $300. Bruno
had found a reason to make a home repair purchase almost every day,
and was averaging $1,500 a week in bonuses.
Evie and Bruno were also fond of going on cruises, compliments of
Evie, of course, and her bank account had dwindled from $700,000 to
$612,000 in one year. When the son tried to talk to his mother, she
became combative and uncharacteristically shouted, "I am quite old
enough to spend my money any way I see fit. Leave me alone." When
she was told about the cash withdrawals from the ATMs, she said that
she was not concerned but would ask Bruno to be more careful with
his receipts. "Why do you want me to die miserable and alone? Bruno
is wonderful. He's taking me dancing tonight and we might even get
married in a few more months!"
There was little that we could do to help this family. Evie was well
beyond the "age of consent" and she was in control of her faculties.
Making poor choices borne of loneliness is not a good enough reason
to convince a judge to assign her a conservator. Even after doing a
Criminal Records Search on Bruno - and finding a previous conviction
for Elder Abuse that stemmed from an almost identical situation as
what he was doing with/to Evie - there was no clear cut protective
action.
Sweetheart Swindles are not ONLY perpetrated against old people. Nor
are women the only victims. This is a crime that knows no age
boundaries and it can happen to men or to women. In some cases the
actions can be construed as criminal (with intent to defraud) and
action can be taken. If you need help determining if you can do
something or not, contact us. We'll refer you to the appropriate
authorities or agency that can help you.