March 6, 2014

Prosecutors: Woman faked cancer to feed gambling addiction

Julie Ann Dahlquist

 

AUBURN, Wash. —

A 52-year old Auburn woman was sentenced to prison Thursday for a fraud scheme in which she claimed to be a cancer patient to get money from a senior citizen.

Julie Ann Dahlquist was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, between May 2009 and Sept. 2012, Dahlquist convinced an Auburn man to financially support her by claiming the money he gave her would pay for her cancer treatment.

Authorities said Dahlquist did not have cancer and used more than $400,000 to support her gambling addiction.

On Nov. 15, she pleaded guilty to Social Security fraud.

During her sentencing, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez ordered her to pay $417,382 in restitution and said the crime was “no less than elder abuse – taking advantage of the victim’s good nature to steal his money.”

According to records filed in the case, Dahlquist told the victim that she had been diagnosed with cancer and had no medical insurance or any money for treatment.

The concerned victim wrote checks for as much as $9,000 about three times a month to pay for Dahlquist’s treatment. In all, the victim wrote 190 checks to Dahlquist for more than $400,000.
Prosecutors said Dahlquist used the money for gambling and other expenses and also defrauded the Social Security Administration disability program by concealing the $400,000 in proceeds from her fraud scheme so that she could collect $8,000 in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. She also fraudulently collected more than $8,000 in food and medical benefits from the State of Washington.

Writing to the court, prosecutors said, “This is a truly outrageous fraud that involved exploiting an elderly retiree’s trust and generous intentions. Julie Dahlquist recognized that (the victim) was a trusting and generous person, and because of those qualities she chose to prey on him. Furthermore, defendant invoked the serious disease of cancer as part of her fraud. The psychological harm to the victim is acute: his family reports that he is ‘devastated to think that someone he was trying to help would take such extreme advantage of him’.”

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/prosecutors-woman-faked-cancer-feed-gambling-addic/nd7CH/

Pensioner fleeced by gambling addict

Northumberland pensioner fleeced by gambling addict

• by James Moore, The Journal
• Nov 24 2012

A PARTIALLY blind pensioner was duped out of thousands by a gambling addict who befriended her to feed his addiction.

Sylvia Hall, 83, from Northumberland, was left living in fear after she had nearly £5,000 stolen from her over a three-month period.

Stewart Greens, 52, gained the pensioner’s trust and began helping her out with household chores. He took her on shopping trips to Alnwick, walked her dog and took her for drives.
But Greens betrayed Ms Hall by using her cash card to empty every penny from her account.

And he blew the lot in a bookmakers right next door to the bank, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Greens, of Castlegate Court, Berwick, pleaded guilty to theft.

Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said the victim became suspicious after finding Greens loitering around upstairs for no good reason.

He said: “On another occasion, when she returned from a period in hospital, she was shocked to find he was at her address. It seemed he had acquired a key in some way.”

The pensioner, who lives alone, contacted the police after realising she was heavily overdrawn.
Greens had taken her card and pin number and made 24 withdrawals from her bank account. Mr Bunch said: “She kept her card and pin number together out of his way and she paid him for his help in cash.

“She is blind in one eye, lives off her pension and is gutted that someone could do this sort of thing. She now feels too frightened to go out.”

The victim told police she had trusted Greens and had depended on him to help her out with everyday chores.

Julie Clemitson, defending, said Greens had stolen the money to feed his gambling addiction.
She said: “His behaviour was not borne out of greed in the usual sense.

“It was borne out of an overwhelming urge to satisfy his addiction.

“The scale of this addiction was not recognised by him or his family until his offending came to light.
“He is appalled by the way he acted.”

She said Green was in secure employment and had saved £700 to give back to his victim. He had also attended two Gamblers Anonymous courses in Edinburgh.

Judge Brian Forster deferred sentencing until next May to give Greens the chance to repay what he owed.

He told Greens: “On 24 occasions, you went to a cash machine, took out money and that was immediately blown on gambling.

“What you did was disgraceful. You have a serious gambling addiction for which you need help.

“The usual sentence for such a case would be a 15-month prison sentence, but this is a lady of limited means and she needs to have her money back.

“It is only because of my concern for the victim who has suffered so much at her age that I am taking this course of action.”

He added: “When you come back to court, you can show that you have taken steps to show your obligation to her.”


Read more: Journal Live http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/11/24/northumberland-pensioner-fleeced-by-gambling-addict-61634-32297607/#ixzz2D96aSryZ

Daughter gambles mom’s savings away

Daughter gambles mom’s savings away
David Goodwin

As Debra Davis’ mother lay near death in a Birmingham hospital bed two years ago, her daughter gambled away her life savings.

Davis had a limited power of attorney for her mother Doris Anderson, trusted the mortgage and other bills paid while Anderson was hospitalized for almost four months in 2009.

According to the guilty plea Davis entered in Elmore County Circuit Court last October, Davis used that power to clean out her mother’s retirement account, blowing the $130,000 nest egg in area casinos.

“She took my whole life savings, everything that I had,” Anderson said Tuesday at the Elmore County Judicial Complex. “It’s broken my heart. I loved her so much and I trusted her.”

Davis skipped a hearing Tuesday where Circuit Judge Sibley Reynolds was to sentence her on first-degree theft of property. But her mother was there, sitting in a wheelchair, with oxygen tubes running to her face.

State Assistant Attorney General Noel Barnes said a warrant has been issued for Davis’ arrest, and an investigator is working to track her down.

“This is an unusual theft case, a daughter stealing $130,000 from her mother and squandering it on gambling,” Barnes said Thursday. “Doris was on her deathbed when this money was taken and gambled away.”

The Wetumpka Police Department handled the initial investigation, but the prosecution was taken over by the attorney general’s office as an “elder abuse” case.

Davis cashed out her mother’s retirement savings, Barnes said, using them to feed a gambling addiction at casinos in Wetumpka, Montgomery and Shorter.

“Debra has a gambling problem, plain and simple,” Barnes said.

Anderson gave her victim’s impact statement Tuesday, telling Reynolds that two titanium braces and 12 screws had been surgically implanted in her back. She also contracted a drug-resistant staph infection during treatment and “they nearly lost me a few times,” Anderson told the judge.

“We wanted her statement on the record (Tuesday), because we don’t know if she’ll make it back to the courthouse,” Barnes said.

Not only did Davis blow her mother’s life savings, but by making two withdrawls from her investment account -- one for $99,000 and another for $31,000 -- she left Anderson with a hefty tax bill to pay. A settlement with the IRS has her paying $150 per month just to keep up.

Because Davis has a prior conviction, Barnes said, she’ll face a sentence of 10 years to life for the Class A felony.

Her deal with the AG’s office called for a 10-year sentence, but her failure to appear in court Tuesday may increase her time behind bars.

The restitution payments to which Davis agreed won’t amount to much. Even at $100 per month over the 10-year sentence, it wouldn’t add up to even 10 percent of what she stole, Barnes said.

“Jail time, in my opinion, is the only way justice is served,” he said.