Employees at an Illinois nursing home stole more than $750,000 from a 96-year-old woman, according to The Chicago Sun Times. After the appalling theft, the thieves are now trying to delay the nursing home patient’s lawsuit trying to recover the stolen funds. According to attorneys for the elderly woman, the former nursing home employees are deliberately stalling in hopes that the woman passes away before the lawsuit’s conclusion. “I think they’re hoping they’ll get off the hook if she dies,” Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert told the Chicago newspaper. Because the nursing home resident, whose name is Grace Watanabe, does not have a spouse or any children, the money was willed to two non-profits in the local area. If Watanabe were to pass away before the conclusion of the lawsuit then those organizations would have the legal right to “step in” to her shoes and finish litigating her civil lawsuit.
The judge overseeing the case is to frustrate the nursing home’s attempts at delaying the case. Last week, the judge imposed a $400 fine as part of a contempt order aimed at executives of Symphony Residents of Lincoln Park. These executives are refusing to sit down for a deposition and answer questions about the treatment of Grace Watanabe. The employees who are accused of stealing money from Watanabe, who is diagnosed with advanced stage dementia, have invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked about the alleged crimes over the past few months. Criminal charges are expected to be filed against the fraudster in the next few weeks, according to Cook County District Attorneys.
The illegal scheme to defraud Watanabe was discovered by federal authorities after the bank alerted them of suspicious withdrawals coming from the nursing home resident’s bank account. Unfortunately, this type of financial fraud is a common form of elder abuse, which has been on the rise across the country and remains sadly under-reported. Employees of a nursing home or caretakers discover the financial information of an elderly person, typically with limited cognitive abilities, and then take advantage of their position of trust by swindling the person out of their money. In this instance, it appears the lowlife criminals will not be able to get away with it, though. In addition to the $400 daily fine, which the nursing home says it will appeal, an entire community of Japanese-Americans have rallied support for Watanabe and promise to keep her case in the spotlight and hold the thieves responsible, whether Watanabe lives to see that result or not.
