Posted on 11/14/2002 11:45:46 AM PST by zingzang
BY ANA RHODES arhodes@herald.com
A Tamarac woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with stealing $45,000 from a 101-year-old woman she was caring for. The caretaker said she needed the money to buy a new car to take her to doctor's appointments.
''It's a sad situation,'' said Veda Coleman-Wright, spokesperson for the Broward Sheriff's Office. ``This lady was entrusted to care for this 101-year-old lady and instead she victimized her and stole from her.''
The victim, Isabelle Reese, died Nov. 6 of natural causes.
Her caretaker, Joellen ''Jody'' Vrooman, 47, was charged with one count of exploitation to the elderly, a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Police say Vrooman stole from Reese's Suntrust bank account when she wrote 109 checks for $55,000 out to herself and made Reese sign the checks. In that same 17 month period, from January 2001 through July 2002, Vrooman wrote out an additional 56 checks for $31,000 to herself or Reese and would drive the elderly lady to the bank and force her to cash the checks.
A bank teller became suspicious at the end of July when Vrooman took Reese to a Fort Lauderdale SunTrust to cash the checks. Reese kept asking the bank teller if she hadn't called her and would wink at the teller, who then checked Reese's account and found suspiciously large cash withdrawals.
''Even though she had been diagnosed with dementia, she was sharp enough to know her aide was stealing from her,'' said Coleman-Wright.
Coleman-Wright said Vrooman was supposed to be collecting $500 a month in salary which would have amounted to $41,000 for the 17-month period. The checks, however, totaled $86,000.
Coleman-Wright said that Vrooman had told investigators that she was aware of Reese's mental condition and indicated that was why she took advantage of the elderly lady. They said Reese did tell investigators that Vrooman was stealing from her.
Vrooman was arrested Wednesday and bonded out on $25,000 bail.
Apparently some Floridians also have a problem with math.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.