Nationwide — Father and son Charles and Dillon Cook dinner, who’re from Cell, have been accused of stealing $774,000 from an aged lady’s retirement account after gaining her belief via their garden care enterprise and a false monetary association.
Charles Cook dinner, 54, and his son Dillon, 30, ran a garden care firm and labored for the sufferer. Investigators say the 2 transferred giant sums of cash from her retirement account utilizing checks and money, in keeping with WLBT.
Court docket paperwork reveal that the daddy and son allegedly created a deal through which Charles Cook dinner would oversee the lady’s funds and future selections. The District Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned the sufferer by no means agreed to such an association.
Court docket information present the stolen quantity reached $774,000, making it one of many largest instances of elder monetary exploitation reported in Alabama. Carl Bates of the Higher Enterprise Bureau mentioned he had seen instances the place victims misplaced lots of of hundreds of {dollars}, however by no means one involving this a lot cash.
The Nationwide Council on Getting old estimates that elder monetary abuse prices victims practically $23.8 billion yearly. Specialists urge households to solely enable trusted people to handle funds and to place all agreements in writing.
“You may be nice at present and medically have points tomorrow, and if you happen to don’t have any individual who you’ve put in control of your affairs, when you’ve been incapacitated to say, then you realize it turns into an enormous challenge and you’ll be taken benefit of very simply,” Bates mentioned. “I believe it’s very lucky that the District Legal professional has discovered these individuals earlier than they skip city and can have the ability to prosecute.”
The District Legal professional’s Workplace known as the case probably the most despicable crimes they’d investigated. Each Charles and Dillon Cook dinner stay out on bond, set at a mixed $140,000, and are scheduled to return to court docket on August 26.
