Tribune Staff Writer
CHEBOYGAN - Two Cheboygan County residents have been named as part of a state-wide investigation into financial scams and thefts from elderly relatives. Sheryl Ann Baxter, 53, of Mackinaw City, was arraigned in Cheboygan County 89th District Court in connection with a charge of embezzling more than $1,000 but less than $20,000 from a vulnerable adult - a five-year felony.
Jeffrey Allen Gerou of Wolverine was also arraigned in Emmet County 90th District Court on the same charges.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has charged 12 individuals from throughout the state with felonies for exploiting seniors. Another 85 cases remain under investigation.
“Taking advantage of seniors is terrible enough, but financially exploiting your mom, dad, aunt or uncle is despicable,” Cox said. “This project combines the power of state and federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those who would financially exploit our most vulnerable senior citizens.”
The joint effort is named Project $CAMS (Stop Crimes Against Michigan Seniors), a statewide criminal enforcement initiative to protect residents of nursing homes from financial exploitation. The project, designed to cover all of Michigan's approximately 420 nursing homes and their population of over 40,000 residents, identifies potential financial exploitation of nursing home residents by identifying residents with past due payments. The project's start-up phase includes West Michigan, Northwest Michigan and the UP.
In every case the perpetrator was a relative. Some of the felony charges filed resulted from the following:
- A daughter did not make payments to the nursing home in which her parent lived, incurring more than $2,200 in past due bills. Staff at the nursing home had to buy the resident shoes, provide spending money for outings, etc.
- Another son stole over $1,600 to primarily cover gambling debts.
- A resident's daughter stole over $2,000. She had four prior financial felony convictions.
Financial exploitation of senior citizens is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. It is estimated that as many as 5,000,000 seniors are victimized annually. This problem is compounded by the fact that only one in 100 instances of victimization is typically reported. In addition, nursing home residents are the most vulnerable and the least likely to be able to detect and/or report it.
SOURCE: CheboyganNews
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