“Caregivers” Charged With Stealing $800,000 From Elderly Woman

The 73-year-old woman seemed healthy. Everything looked OK in her Temple Street condo. But Officer John Palmer could tell something was off.

His hunch led to a lot of questions, then an eight-plus-month police investigation that has led to the arrest of two “caregivers” accused of stealing $800,000 from her over a number of years.

The victim died less than a week before the announcement of the arrests.

Police spokesman Officer David Hartman released an extensive write-up of the case Tuesday. His write-up follows, with the arrestees’ identities concealed:

The investigation began on June 8, 2017, when Patrol Officer John Palmer headed to the home of a 73-year-old woman, then living on Temple Street. The complaint narrative read the woman who lived there was being held captive. Her banker made the call.

The officers knocked at the door. The elderly woman answered and seemed okay. They explained their visit. The woman was puzzled. She was unaware, perhaps, that she was a victim … unaware that there were two crooks robbing her of her of her life savings.

A Global Financial Crimes Compliance Investigator for Bank of America had notified police. He suspected one of his banking clients was being restricted to her home by ‘caregivers’ and that they may be responsible for the unexplained removal of funds from the victim’s accounts. A similar concern of exploitative thefts was expressed by the woman’s wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith.

The two bank representatives told Officer Palmer that during the time prior to them contacting the authorities, “red flags” were going up. Their client had written personal checks, totaling around $50,000, to a woman named Mary. There were also questions they had regarding $32,000 of their client’s cash gone missing but listed as the purchase cost of a 2016 red convertible BMW from CarMax. Their elderly client could no longer drives.

Officer Palmer asked the woman where the BMW was. The woman replied she didn’t know … she’d never seen it. He asked the woman who [a woman named Mary] was. She replied she was her carpenter and that she was paid to renovate her home. Officer Palmer asked if she employed a caregiver. She said yes [and identified her].

“Are you able to care for yourself?” Palmer asked. She answered yes. He asked about her medical alert pendant. “Who responds to the alert if it’s activated,” he asked. The woman said it went directly to [the caregiver]

Although the woman appeared healthy and was living in a nice, well-appointed condominium, Officer Palmer’s sense was that all was far from well. He noted all he’d learned in a detailed report and brought it to Lieutenant [then-Sgt.] Elisa Tuozzoli, who reviewed the case and assigned it to New Haven Police Financial Crimes Detective Rosealee Reid.

Detective Reid took the case in what’s commonly referred to as an “enhancement.” Often, detectives specializing in certain types of investigations will further the initial officer’s case. According to The Financial Crimes Unit’s top-cop, Sergeant, Robert Clark, Palmer took particular interest in this case and would check in with Reid often to stay updated.

On June 12, Detective Reid spoke with the victim’s wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith. She told Reid she’d been the victim’s advisor for about two decades and was suspicious after seeing such rapid changes in her client’s spending habits, and in such a short period of time. She wondered if there was a sinister reason for the activity.

She told the detective she’d asked her client if she knew what the money she was giving [Mary] was for. She said the woman seemed uncertain. She had a friendly and comfortable relationship with her client. The advisor became more suspicious after the woman stopped talking much to her about the transactions. She’d never shied away from having such conversations in the past. She questioned an outside influence. She questioned whether it was her client’s ‘caregivers’.

The wealth management advisor told Detective Reid that [Mary and/or the caregiver] had changed the locks on the victim’s doors. She was concerned her client hadn’t any access to her own home without being let in by them. She heard this was done while the victim was in Arizona, visiting family and without her client’s approval.

On June 16, Reid met with a social worker from Elderly Protective Services, who, after an alert from the banks, had visited the victim at her home. The social worker told Detective Reid that when she met the victim at the condo, there were two women there. She said one of the women left the room, but the other wouldn’t. She asked the woman her name. The woman wouldn’t provide it – only identified herself as the victim’s caregiver. She wanted to talk with the victim alone but her request for privacy was denied by the self-proclaimed caregiver.

The social worker said she was suspicious something was not right. Suspicious after not being able to visit in private with the elderly woman and the placement of video-cameras inside her home and at the front door.

On June 20, Detective Reid applied for a search and seizure warrant for the contents of the victim’s Bank of America account. She wanted to examine and calculate check debit transactions conducted by [the two women]. The request was answered on Aug. 7. A second such warrant was made to Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith. Finally, warrants for both[women’s] TD Bank N.A. accounts.

On Aug. 21, Detective Reid focused on the BMW. She learned from the Department of Motor Vehicles that the victim did in fact own a BMW but it was sold to – not bought from –  CarMax in East Haven, CT. Reid set off to speak with the CarMax manager. He told her they’d recently purchased the victim’s 2016 red convertible BMW for forty-one thousand dollars. [Mary} brought it to them. He said she wanted the cash for the car, but despite her presenting a hand-written Power of Attorney, he ordered the money go to the victim’s account directly. He presented a copy of the POA to Reid.

Reid scanned the POA document and forwarded it to the victim’s daughter. She confirmed the handwriting was not her mother’s although the signature appeared to be.

The victim’s daughter described her mother as a woman who’d suffered through alcoholism. She reported her mom had been hospitalized several times during the period of the investigation for alcohol related issues, despite leaving Arizona a sober woman. She suspected the women were responsible for providing her mother with booze.

On Aug. 30, Detectives Reid and Freddy Salmeron paid another visit to the victim at her home. A woman answered the door. She told the detectives she’d been hired two weeks ago as a caregiver from a company named Visiting Angels, and was with her client daily, from breakfast till supper time. The caregiver told the cops that once she’d leave, her client would be monitored on surveillance cameras by a woman she knew as “Sweets.”

“Do you think Sweets is watching us right now?” asked Reid.

“Sweets is watching,” she replied. Reid left her number and asked that the victim call her when she awoke from her nap.

The following day, Detective Reid received a phone call from a familiar number – the victim’s. The caller identified herself as “Sweet,” the victim’s caregiver, and wanted to know what Reid had been doing in the victim’s home yesterday.

When Reid questioned who the caller was, “Sweet” backpedalled. Now she was “a family friend” rather than a caregiver. Reid asked to speak to the victim. She’s in the hospital, was the reply. And who are you? asked Reid. The woman replied [by giving her name].

On Aug.30, the victim was admitted to the hospital after suffering alcohol-related seizures. Reid phoned the victim’s daughter. Her daughter said she was surprised as she’d spoken with her mother that very day and she sounded fine – sober. She suspected foul play.

On Sept. 5, Reid received an email from Bank of America regarding five additional suspect transactions. Checks made payable to and cashed by Mary were drawn from the victim’s account that totaled $72,870.

Two $10,000 checks – made out from and to the victim were suspicious as well. A few checks, drawn from the victim’s account were also found made out to R&J Custom Tile Remodeling – a company owned by Mary.

Detective Reid got a call from the victim’s daughter. She told Reid she’d phoned her mother at the hospital. The call was answered by a woman identifying herself as “Sweet”. When the victim’s daughter asked who she was, “Sweet” replied she was the victim’s sister. The victim doesn’t have a sister. Her daughter phoned the hospital, informed them of that and asked that “Sweet” be removed from her mother’s room.

On Sept. 7, another email was received by Reid from Bank of America. More checks (January to June) from the victim’s account, bringing the total to just under $116,000 cashed by Sweets. An additional near $40,000was charged to the victim’s credit card by R&J Custom Tile Remodeling. 

On Sept. 19, Reid received the requested TD Bank statements. Was there another victim? Mary’s statement revealed $97,000 had been deposited into her account over a ten year period. The account the money was drawn from was that of an elderly man living in West Haven.

The elderly man admitted he’d felt foolish and was unaware, it seems, that the women he trusted may have stolen from him. This despite Mary’s name being added to his bank account, a portion of the sale of a deceased relative’s Florida property finding its way into the women’s hands and checks made out to Mary for “credit card payments” (rather than to the credit card company). The likely duped man has not filed criminal charges. Reid has turned over the information to West Haven Police, should he decide to pursue the matter in the future.

An integral part of Reid’s investigation focused on both women’s frequent gambling trips to Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino. Reid was interested in their gambling activities after learning Mary was withdrawing money from their victim’s checking account that seemed to coincide with deposits into their own and quick withdrawals from ATMs at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

On Sept.25, in response to her inquiry, Detective Reid was contacted by a supervisory Senior Investigator for the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Commission. Both women had Players Club accounts. Sweets was last rated by them in August, 2017. Her account revealed she’d lost over $16,000 gambling there. Mary also had such an account. She was last rated by them in September 2017. Her account revealed she’d lost over $751,000gambling there.

On October 3rd, Reid was able to closely match five of the women’s and one of the women’s husband’s 13 May 2017 visits to the casino to $72,000from the elderly woman’s Merrill Lynch account. Another withdrawal was made on the first of four August visits.

In August, a new account for the victim was established at United Bank with deposits totaling $28,000. Two of the checks were again, from the victim and to the victim.

While reviewing actual checks, Reid found out there were different handwritings and variations in the signatures. Were they forged? Perhaps, some of them? Were the signatures off because they were penned by a woman under the influence of alcohol? The victim’s daughter was on her way to Connecticut to meet with Reid – her attorney in tow.

According to her daughter, the victim was “dry” after leaving Arizona. She returned from her respite to find herself locked out of her home by women. They let her inside and presented her with a “huge bottle of Scotch,” she said. The daughter said no one close to her mom would tempt her that way as her addiction was well known. She was also concerned that the two women had complete freedom to enter her mother’s home, had access to her mail, files, phone messages and financial transactions.

The victim’s daughter told Reid that during a certain time period, at each of her visits to Connecticut to see her mother, she learned her mom had been admitted to the hospital. At ach visit, she’d been unable to access her mother’s home due to the code on the door being changed. When she’d ask he mom for it, she said she didn’t know it and would have to get it from Sweets.

Soon, Reid was able to review TD Bank’s and United Bank’s investigations. Over $300,000 was accessed by the women between 2014 and 2017, from an unconfirmed source.

On Oct. 24, Reid found more checks drawn from the victim’s accounts. Financial Crimes Unit Detective Richard LaRock helped her sort through the piles of transactions. These were deposited into a Santander Bank account in Mary’s name. [The other woman] had accounts with that bank. Reid wrote up another search and seizure warrant. The findings – another 92 checks cashed by Mary from the victim’s account totaling $352,000).

Five more search and seizure warrants would follow. Another $63,000, four checks at $20,000 each and $15,000 spread out were added to the victim’s loss. One, for $4,500 was noted, “Medical.” The victim’s daughter confirmed her mother had full coverage and would have had no need to go out of pocket for such an expense.

As Reid’s investigation drew to a close, more fraudulent transactions were uncovered – more checks, more ATM withdrawals and sometimes more questions than answers.

In the last police visit to the victim’s home, Detectives Reid and Arpad Tolnay inspected the alleged home renovations claimed by the women. There was nothing to suggest that anything other than the modern condo’s original structure or veneers existed. The $10,000 charged to the victim for bathroom renovations of a specific wall seemed misappropriated as no evidence of renovations could be found. Furthermore, when Tolnay pulled the refrigerator from the kitchen sharing the same wall, there was nothing found that’d suggest the reported water damage had ever occurred?

For approximately ten years, Reid alleges in separate 13-page arrest warrants, that Sweets and Mary bilked their victim out of more than $800.000. The women shared many of the accounts and each had access to the ill-gotten funds. The warrant further accuses the women of using the victim’s alcohol addiction as a tool to cloud her judgement and manipulateingher into allowing them such access to her funds. It further alleges the women used R&J Custom Tile as a ruse to convince the victim that some of the money they allegedly stole was for renovations to her home.

According to the warrants, the victim was controlled by the women. They had her key lock access to her home switched to a programmable key-pad – allowing them access ahead of the home owner.

Most disturbing, perhaps is the breach of trust and friendship the victim had for the crooks who she’d likely once been seen as friends and care providers.

The statute of limitations allows that the women can only be charged for the provable crimes committed in the past five years of the investigation. Of the over eight hundred thousand dollars suspected stolen from the victim, Reid charges that “Sweets” (born in 1946) stole $22,712.66. In a separate warrant, Reid charges that Mary (born in 1957) stole $594,960.71. Both have been charged with larceny in the first degree and conspiracy to commit larceny in the first degree.

Sadly, on Thursday, April 5, 2018, the victim died. News of her passing has saddened Officer Palmer, Detective Reid, her partners; Detectives Tolnay, Salmeron and Richard LaRock, their supervisor, Sergeant Robert Clark and lastly me, the PIO. We are all truly heavyhearted.

Such victims lose faith in the world and the system that was supposed to protect them, for even if the perpetrators are caught and ordered to pay restitution, many offenders use any means necessary to avoid paying, often liquidating their assets and hiding them out of reach or declaring bankruptcy.

Awareness and management of a loved one’s finances are of great importance. There’s a lot of good advice and best practices available from financial institutions and authorities charged with protecting those most vulnerable.