Police: St. Paul man took mom's cash, failed to pay for care
By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
01/09/2009
Larry John Bekis told police he was just not good at managing money.
But investigators believe there is more to the story of how his 83-year-old mother's Roseville nursing home bills mounted to more than $49,000 while Bekis — who took out a $100,000 reverse mortgage on her home — never paid a dime.
Bekis, 51, of St. Paul, was charged Thursday in Ramsey County District Court with theft by swindle, the first prosecution by the county attorney office's new elder abuse unit.
According to the criminal complaint:
The woman, identified in the complaint by her initials, N.G.B., was placed in the Rose of Sharon nursing home in October 2006 with progressive dementia. She had given her son, Larry Bekis, power of attorney earlier that year to pay her bills and manage her Lauderdale home.
For the first several months, the woman's HMO paid the nursing home bills. Bekis was to take over that duty in March 2007.
But month after month went by with no payment.
The nursing home finally got Bekis to write a check in August for $2,500. It bounced.
At one point, Bekis told the Rose of Sharon business manager that he would sell his mother's house to pay the bill. Instead, he took out a reverse mortgage, ultimately removing $100,000 in equity. None of the money went to provide for her care, the complaint said.
The nursing home called the county's adult protection department, which learned Bekis was collecting his mother's Social Security
SOURCE: TwinCities
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