As a person’s mobility and mental acuity diminishes, they can fall victim to false friends and scams.   They also become targets for relatives and friends wanting access to their assets.  Loneliness and dependency makes a person much more vulnerable to that type predator.

NOTE:  1-31-06 Newton woman involved in Will scam found dead in home

AVOC

January 31, 2006

Exploiting and preying on elderly is cruel, mean and despicable

By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc.

Many elderly people have relatives who love and care for them.  Others have no close family.   Many have friends who care and do much for them.

As we age, we all become more dependent.   Many elderly people have life savings and retirement income.  Often these resources are necessary for care-givers.  Round the clock care-givers are expensive.  Many elderly people prefer that to being in a “nursing home”.

As a person’s mobility and mental acuity diminishes, they can fall victim to false friends and scams.   They also become targets for relatives and friends wanting access to their assets.  Loneliness and dependency makes a person much more vulnerable to that type predator.

I have seen this happen with many folks over the years.   We all want to remain independent and preserve our privacy.  However, as the elderly become more and more isolated, they become more susceptible to fraud and exploitation.

In the case reported by the Rockdale Citizen on January 20, 2006, the culprits went so far as to forge a will.  That requires a certain amount of daring and/or dumbness!  Few such capers succeed.   However, elderly with assets and little close family are susceptible to being separated from assets during their lifetimes.

It is something that relatives, friends, ministers, physicians and others should be mindful of and alert to.

1-21-06 Six persons arrested and charged with forging a Will

The Newton Citizen

http://www.newtoncitizen.com

January 20, 2006

Six arrested, accused of forging will

By Kimberly Martin

COVINGTON — Six Oxford residents have been arrested on charges they took advantage of an elderly Newton County woman before her death by forging her signature to a bogus will that left all of her money and possessions to themselves.

The victim, 85-year-old Evelyn Pruett Fuller, died of a massive stroke on Sept. 11, said Covington Attorney Matthew Ledbetter, who drew up Fuller’s original will in May. He said Oxford resident Nora D. Ellington, who was Fuller’s caretaker at the time of her death, made herself Fuller’s attorney and drew up the false will in July.

Ellington, 67, of 494 Hightower Trail, was arrested Friday after what Newton County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Sharron Stewart termed “a lengthy investigation” conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. NCSO Investigator David Jones and GBI Special Agent Brian Johnston are working the case, she said.

Ellington was charged with making false statements, theft by deception, second-degree forgery, first-degree forgery, exploitation of an elder and theft by conversion. She bonded out of jail on Monday, according to jail records.

Three of Ellington’s five alleged co-conspirators also were arrested on Friday — Perry Hugh Allee, 44, and his wife, Elaine Moss Allee, 43, both of 465 Ashland Farm Road; and Thomas Howard Parham III, 58, of 285 Ashland Farm Road.

Ellington’s son and daughter-in-law — Ronald Eugene Ellington, 42, and Amanda Gail Ellington, 40, of 494 Hightower Trail — were arrested …..

Ledbetter said Fuller lived by herself, did not go out much and had no family. She invited the attorney to her home in May to help her draw up her will, which she later signed in his presence and in front of his two paralegals.

“We didn’t hear from her again until July, when we got a letter in the mail (supposedly from Fuller) that said, ‘You are the lowest person on earth. I’m revoking my power of attorney and the will,’” Ledbetter said. “But I never had power of attorney.”

The letter, he said, also accused him of cleaning out Fuller’s safety deposit box. He said Fuller and Ellington were the only two people who had access.  

He said he thought the matter was over until Sept. 13 when he received a call from Newton County Probate Court Clerk Annette McGiboney, a lifelong friend of Fuller’s, telling him Fuller had died. Fuller left $
,000 to McGiboney in her actual will. McGiboney asked Ledbetter if she could see a copy of the original will so she could check the signatures on the two wills against each other.

“I looked at the signatures on that will and this will, and said there’s no way — Ms. Fuller signs her name the same way every time. The false will was submitted to probate court by Nora Ellington. In (the false) will (Fuller) left everything she had to Ms. Ellington’s family. We didn’t (even) know she (had) died. This is a horrible thing.”  

He said Fuller had three or four acquaintances and that none of them had ever heard of Ellington before July.

One of the most glaring inconsistencies between the two wills was to whom Fuller left her dog, Lucky. In her real will, Fuller left the dog and $
,000 to Freddie Ellis, an animal control officer who helped Fuller obtain Lucky.

“She said, if something ever happens to her, she wanted Ellis to have the dog,” Ledbetter said.
In the false will, she left the dog in the care of Mathew Silvers, believed to be a relative
of co-conspirator Amanda Ellington.
Fuller moved in with Ellington sometime before July 15, he said.

“Ms. Fuller had a moderate estate — it wasn’t very large, but she had a pension and Social Security, and she was very close with her money,” Ledbetter said. “As soon as she went to live with Ellington, all of her money was spent, and her house was gutted, while she was still alive. Her money was spent on (things like) big-screen televisions and exercise equipment.”

Ledbetter’s paralegals Lori Dyes and Susan Beckham said Fuller was a feisty lady who got around well when they knew her but she somehow became bedridden after July.

They said  before July, Ron and Amanda Ellington had come into Ledbetter’s office and mentioned that Fuller would be moving in with Nora Ellington.

“On one of my visits to Fuller, I said, ‘I understand that you’re going to live with Ms. Ellington,’ and she said, ‘Hell, no,’ she wasn’t,” Dyes said. “She told me that she didn’t know (Ellington’s) intentions and didn’t want to live with her and wanted her away from her.”

On July 15, the same day Ellington signed and Parham notarized Fuller’s false will, Fuller was checked into Rockdale Medical Center with a back injury, according to documents obtained from Newton County Probate Court.

“The patient ... was admitted complaining of low-back pain and inability to walk status post fall at home,” said the Medical Center discharge summary report. “The patient underwent X-rays ... which revealed the possibility of a compression fracture of the ... vertebral body. The patient has had previous back surgeries with metal rod placement. ... (A doctor) suggested patient to have a back brace. ... I discussed at length with the patient’s caretaker and friend, Nora Ellington, who wishes to take the patient home with her and does not want her to be placed into a nursing home at the present moment. I concurred with her wishes and will have Social Services make necessary arrangements for the patient for home health.”

Also on July 15, Ellington allegedly forged Fuller’s signature to a living will, which stated that Fuller did not desire her life be prolonged under artificial means if at any time she should have a terminal condition, become comatose with no reasonable expectation of regaining consciousness or enter into a persistent vegetative state. The alleged forged living will also requests that she not receive chemotherapy or CPR.          

“I’m charged with collecting her assets, which include the possessions, that were taken from her by these people,” Ledbetter said.

The Allees, also alleged co-conspirators, are friends of the Ellingtons. Elaine Allee collected the $
,500 that was left to her in the false will a month prior to Fuller’s death, Ledbetter said.
Perry Hugh Allee was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception and perjury, and Elaine Moss Allee was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception and conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery.

Ledbetter’s investigator, Randall A. Roberts, said he has Nora Ellington on tape “bragging about it, and she named five or six other people that she cared for.”

Newton County Assistant District Attorney Layla Hinton said Superior Court is taking up the case against Ellington and the others, and the six probably will be indicted by a grand jury on the first Friday in February.

“We anticipate getting the case ready (by then),” Hinton said. “I have the case file from the investigators.”

Also, Thomas Howard Parham III, who is a notary public, was charged with perjury and false acknowledgement of appearance or oath by officer authority, for allegedly helping to falsify Fuller’s will.

Ronald Eugene Ellington was charged with conspiracy to commit a crime of theft by conversion and his wife Amanda Gail Ellington was charged by theft by conversion of payments for real property improvements and conspiracy to commit a crime of theft by conversion. 

1-31-06 Newton woman involved in Will scam found dead in home

The Newton Citizen

http://www.newtoncitizen.com/

January 31, 2006

Woman accused in scam found dead

By Kimberly Martin

OXFORD — An Oxford woman under fire recently for allegedly forging an elderly Newton County woman’s will and leaving the woman’s assets to herself, her family and her friends died Sunday night of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Nora Ellington, 67, of 494 Hightower Trail, was found dead about 11:15 p.m. in her home, said Newton County Sheriff’s Office Deputy David Gilbert. Ellington’s husband discovered his wife had shot herself, he said. The incident was turned over to NCSO Investigator Mickey Kitchens.

Ellington was arrested on Jan. 13 and charged with making false statements, theft by deception, second-degree forgery, first-degree forgery, exploitation of an elder and theft by conversion. She bonded out of jail on Jan. 16.        

NCSO and Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigators accused Ellington of conspiring with five other people to draw up a bogus will in July for 85-year-old victim Evelyn Pruett Fuller, who died of a massive stroke on Sept. 11. Covington Attorney Matthew Ledbetter said that he drew up Fuller’s original will in May and that Ellington, who was Fuller’s caretaker at the time of her death, had made herself Fuller’s attorney the following July. Ellington was arrested after a lengthy investigation by the NCSO and GBI.

Ellington and her five alleged co-conspirators were scheduled for indictment by a grand jury on Feb. 3. Newton County District Attorney Ken Wynne said that indictments will go ahead as planned for the other five.

“At this point, we are still planning to proceed to the grand jury this Friday against all of the remaining defendants,” Wynne said. ……….

One of the most glaring inconsistencies between the two wills was to whom Fuller left her dog, Lucky. In her real will, Fuller left the dog and $
,000 to Freddie Ellis, an animal control officer who helped Fuller obtain Lucky.

“She said, if something ever happens to her, she wanted Ellis to have the dog,” Ledbetter said.
In the false will, she left the dog in the care of Matthew Silvers, believed to be a relative of co-conspirator Amanda Ellington.

Ellington’s recent troubles were not the first time she had found herself in Newton County’s  legal system.

According to documents filed in Newton County Superior Court, the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRSG) filed a civil suit against Ellington in early 2004 after Ellington collected a retirement benefit payment of approximately $
,314 from retired teacher Mary Ellison’s bank account in May of 2003, the month after Ellison died.

The TRSG sent collection letters to Ellington for months and ended up having to take her to court when she refused to pay. The case was finally settled in March of 2004, nearly a year later, when the TRSG voluntarily dismissed the case.

Ellington gained power of attorney over Ellison’s estate in June of 1997. Ellison had been receiving monthly retirement benefits since 1969.