Nephew Scams Elderly Uncle Suffering From Chronic Dementia Out Of His Home; Buys His Way Out Of Prison Time By Giving Back Ripped Off Funds
In Saskatoon, British Columbia, The StarPhoenix reports:
- A man who took advantage of his elderly uncle’s chronic dementia in order to steal his life savings avoided a jail term Friday when a Saskatoon judge handed him an 18-month conditional sentence in provincial court.
- Judge Robert Jackson ordered Terence Richard Webb, 43, to serve the first three months of his sentence confined to his home in Mission, B.C., followed by 15 months with a daily curfew of 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. He also ordered Webb to perform 100 hours of community service with an emphasis on working with seniors, as long as he doesn’t have access to their money.
- Jackson said Webb only avoided incarceration because he repaid $65,000 to the victim — the amount the Crown was able to prove was stolen.
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- Webb obtained power of attorney over his uncle [George Swan] in February, 2009, and a month later obtained joint tenancy for the Idylwyld Drive house where Swan had lived for many years.
- After a doctor diagnosed Swan with a severe form of chronic dementia, likely due to Alzheimer’s, in May 2009, Webb quickly placed his uncle in a private nursing home, signing a contract for a monthly rate of $1,750. The care home operator received only two payments, in July and September.
- Webb then sold Swan’s house for $125,000. “As per his ‘lawful’ entitlement (he) took one-half of the sale proceeds and then, by virtue of the power of attorney, took control for himself of the other half of the sale proceeds as well,” Jackson noted. “He then relieved (Webb’s) bank accounts of all remaining funds and relocated to Mission, B.C. The total amount of funds from the house sale and the bank accounts the Crown estimated to be $150,000.”
- Webb also helped himself to his uncle’s Old Age Pension and Canada Pension Plan benefits, which were mailed to him in B.C.
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