TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

68-Year-Old Caregiver Scams 96-Year-Old, Court Records Say

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2009

Myrna Johnson

The caregiver for a 96-year-old woman living in a mobile home park is accused of trying to steal $215,000 in annuities the woman had set aside to supplement her Social Security checks, according to court documents.

Myrna Johnson, 68, was arrested Tuesday morning on a charge of exploitation of the elderly and has been released from the Pinellas County Jail.

Johnson is accused of duping the woman into signing over power-of-attorney to her, the court documents say, although the woman doesn't remember doing so. Johnson then isolated the woman from her friends and family by taking away telephone numbers, the documents say.

Once she had power of attorney, Johnson wrote herself checks for $300 to $500 from the woman's account, and she wrote her disabled son a check for $2,500, the documents say. Then she found out the woman had a safe, where she kept documents showing she had $215,000 in annuities, the records say.

She then set up a bank account listing herself and her charge as account holders, the intent being to transfer the $215,000 in annuities into that account, but the woman's financial advisor wouldn't allow it, the documents say.

Johnson's disabled son, to whom she had written that $2,500 check, requires much money for his treatment, the documents say. The son, Richard Burns, knew of the annuities when interviewed by detectives, and broke into tears when asked about his own financial predicament, the documents say.

The victim's sons told investigators they never gave control of their mother's checkbook to Johnson, the documents say. Rather, they put a Buick in Johnson's name, and paid mileage and repairs associated with the vehicle, so Johnson could take their mother to the grocery store and doctor's appointments, the documents say.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT