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Ok, I don't know how much detail to go into, so I will make this a brief as possible. 13 years ago, my dad passed away and of course a good part of his estate went to our step mom. She, herself, though hard work and frugality had managed to build a comfortable nest egg. Combining her investments with my dads she probably had well over a million dollars, I know she did. Now the story:
She saw an ad in a local magagzine or something advertising ways to invest for seniors or something like that. The man doing the advertising had a company not too far from where she lived in No Ca but not totally locally. Anyway she contacted him, he was more than willing to help her manage her money. In the process he managed to convince her, the accountant which was a church member of hers was not to be trusted. He would handle her affairs. He even suggested she move into a retirement community where he was on the board of directors. She was glad to have someone to help her and she had always been a woman that loved men...She had no family of her own, only my brother, myself, my kids and a neice who lived about 500 miles from her. We were 1/2 acroos the country. She did consider us her family as she had been married to my dad about 33 years when he died.
Step 2; after this guy befriended her, he preceeded to tell her what a good Christian he was, he had just found God and he also was a cancer survivor and had just finished his 3rd kidney transplant. Everytime we tried to meet with him when visiting her or tried to even talk to him via phone he would pretend like he didn't know who we were, saying she had no family. I tried many times to convince her something just wastn't right. When she listed next of kin to be notified in case of sickness he would find a way to get my name off the list and add his..I don't know how many times I called the complex she lived in and eventually the nursing home she was admitted to, just to learn she was in the hopital. In fact one visit, when she was very ill, he managed to get her to sign over 1/2 of her remaining property to him, the other 1/2 to me. Luckily he forgot get one paper notarized so the property remained in her name, he tried to sell, and tried to get me to cooperate. That was a few years ago.
Step 3: finally my neice had the guts and brains to move step mom to So Ca and was able to get control of all her assets, as well as getting new wills and trusts written. This all happedned when step mom still had her faciities.
Step 4: Fianlly investment coucilor was found guilty (this was about 6 months ago) it seems like step mom wasn't the only one ripped off. Anyway he was sentenced to 6 months in jail and told to make restitutions to her for over $200,000 he had convencated and that wasn't counting commissions he had gotten from investments he had sold her. Luckily she lived long enough to learn he had gotten caught.
Step 5: she passed away a few weeks later and neice is the trustee and executor. Finally everything is coming together and yesterday neice finally was able to open the saftety deposit box: guess what? it is empty. It looks like all the jewelry went to him as well plus probably 100s or thousands of $$ in US savings bonds. You know it isn't the money, there is plenty, plus that isn't the point, but some of the jewelry had sentimental value and I was close to tears when I got the news.
I wonder how many little old ladies he managed to rip off. I had known he lost his license in OR and of couse has now lost it in Ca plus he had agreed to pay $53000 to the estate, but that doesn' keep me from hoping he burns in Hell. I know that isn't a very nice thing to hope and I rarely have ever hated anyone, but I certainly hate him. I can not bring myself to even think of asking God to forgive him,
Sorry I rambled so long, but I just had to rant. We have all heard of scam artists, but rarely do any of us personally know one.
Unfortunately, it's NOT that rare. A friend of mine was swindled out of most of her inheritance by one of these bogus investment guys. A guy I knew sinve kindergarten grew up and got in the papers when he -- a supposedly kosher investment counselor for years -- swindled a retired schoolteacher out of her life savings, using it to get himself a yacht and send his son to private school. I know a third guy whose own mother swindled him out of a half a million dollars. A co-worker of mine gave some Internet swindlers (claiming to be from PayPal) his mother's maiden name and his own Social Security number, and in a day he had been ripped off for $15,000.
Unfortunately, it's NOT that rare. A friend of mine was swindled out of most of her inheritance by one of these bogus investment guys. A guy I knew sinve kindergarten grew up and got in the papers when he -- a supposedly kosher investment counselor for years -- swindled a retired schoolteacher out of her life savings, using it to get himself a yacht and send his son to private school. I know a third guy whose own mother swindled him out of a half a million dollars. A co-worker of mine gave some Internet swindlers (claiming to be from PayPal) his mother's maiden name and his own Social Security number, and in a day he had been ripped off for $15,000.
I suppose you are right, but I have always believed people are basically honest. I knew almost from day one this guy was a shister, as my dad would have said.
BTW I just googled this guy again, for I don't know how many times. Of course the story of his pleading guilty is there in black and white. When I went to: records of so and so; guess what? he now has me listed as one of his relatives...I have never even met the guy....
Sad, it's the disillusionment that, to me, is the worst. We had shiksters (proper spelling?) in my husband's family--even worse when it's that!! But, bad enough anyway it happens.
3rd kidney transplant...Sounds like BS right there. Never heard of that. You have 2 kidneys and can live w/ one. Why would 2 fail? Weird, but all of his stories were probably tall tales.
Pathetic people they are.
Sad, it's the disillusionment that, to me, is the worst. We had shiksters (proper spelling?) in my husband's family--even worse when it's that!! But, bad enough anyway it happens.
3rd kidney transplant...Sounds like BS right there. Never heard of that. You have 2 kidneys and can live w/ one. Why would 2 fail? Weird, but all of his stories were probably tall tales.
Pathetic people they are.
I am sure your spelling is much better than mine. Of course he didn't have 3 kidney transplants, i doubt he had one, but my poor step mom was so taken by him (pardon the pun) no one could get through to her. I can imagine how hard it was for her to admit, even to herself she had been scammed. I remember asking her about why my name kept disappearing from the notify of emergancy papers, she said, they just had careless help...of course never would she admit he did something wrong.
A similar thing happened in my family. My Grandmother had quite an estate, and this "investment" broker, from one of the big name firms, kept calling her, every day, to "chat"...of course, he always had a "hot" new stock trade for her...she was spending more money on trade transacations, than making on the actual investments. Which, this guy, got the commissions on...My Uncle finally put a stop to it.
People who prey on the elderly, are sociopaths, without a shred of decency in them. Stock Broker? Or Criminal in a suit? Investment Counselor? Or Scam Artist?
my parents were convinced to invest their life savings with a 'retired wall street exec' who joined their group of camping friends. everyone who went with him lost every penney. the law caught up with him and he was found guilty and ordered to pay restitution, but he had spent it all.
no jail time, he went right back to 'work' when he got out of the court house.
my folks ended up in section 8 housing when it was all over.
my parents were convinced to invest their life savings with a 'retired wall street exec' who joined their group of camping friends. everyone who went with him lost every penney. the law caught up with him and he was found guilty and ordered to pay restitution, but he had spent it all.
no jail time, he went right back to 'work' when he got out of the court house.
my folks ended up in section 8 housing when it was all over.
suz, what a horrible story...At least my step mom had enough money that she died, leaving a lot to the family and charity. But a new twist to my story, I just checked this guys google records, you know where you get names, addresses, etc. he has me listed as a living relative. I have never even met this creep. the website also lists 3 cities or towns he has resided in, one being where my stepmom and my dad lived. This guy never lived in that town. What do you bet he gave his address as one of the properties my parents had owned?
BTW...the "investment broker" my Grandmother was supporting, she met him at her church. This guy was basically using church as his pathway to find old folks to scam.
He just keeps moving to various churches to find new prey....I mean....clients.
One issue I always try to point is the fallout of crime. You were not the "recipient" of the crime you outlined, however, YOU and your entire extended family are. People who say: Its just a few bucks, what is the big deal? From this point forward, YOU will never think that way again. When there is a murder, etc. YOU will never look at it the sameway again.
You will stop and think with a crime: Damn. I wonder how the family is doing? The kids? The wife? I wonder how they are coping with what is going on. I sure hope that 13 yr old girl doesn't grow up to be a drug addict prostitute, because her father was killed. And the wife a raging alcoholic.
One of the most forgotten issues of crime is the extended victims. Those people have to live with the fallout of the crime for the rest of their lives. MOST people read a news article in the paper and bam, forget about it. Not only that, they have no problem when the suspect is given a very lenient sentence. They never think for one minute what a slap in the face it is for the people who have to live with the crime for the rest of their lives. In fact, they really don't care. Out of sight and out of mind.
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