Wheeler woman charged with 7 felonies related to financial crimes against the elderly or disabled
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 51-one-year-old Wheeler woman has been charged in Dunn County with seven felonies related to financial crimes against the elderly or the disabled.
Lori K. Feyen made an initial appearance in Dunn County Circuit Court before Judge Rod W. Smeltzer December 10 with her attorney, Kerry Kelm.
Judge Smeltzer set bail for Feyen with a $1,000 signature bond.
Feyen is charged with seven felonies that all include the modifier of a crime against an elderly or disabled person. The felonies include fraudulent financial card use of over $10,000; theft of movable property valued between $10,000 and $100,000; two counts of forgery; theft of movable property; misappropriating an identification to obtain money; and criminal damage to property over $2,500.
According to the criminal complaint, Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin made contact with Gretchen Johnson, a guardian from Meraki Guardian Services, on September 3 of this year after she had attempted contact with the police chief regarding a possible burglary. Johnson said she had been appointed the guardian of two people who lived in the Village of Boyceville who were 77 and 74 years old at the time. The 77-year-old was committed to the Neighbors of Dunn County in January of 2018 and the 74-year-old went to the Neighbors in July of 2018.
Johnson said Judge James Peterson had appointed her as guardian for the two people since they were unable to make decisions or give consent for themselves and that Feyen had previously been the appointed guardian but had not been paying their expenses. Johnson said she had been authorized by the court to sell the home the two elderly people had occupied to cover their debts, which amounted to over $261,000 as of July 22, 2019, the complaint states.
Johnson said she asked Feyen to move out of the house, and the locks were changed on July 24, 2019. Johnson and a realtor inspected the house on August 1 after the locksmith had reported the house was “trashed.” Johnson said Feyen had allowed goats inside the house, resulting in nearly $3,000 in damages that had to be repaired before the house could be sold. Johnson said there were still 14 goats on the property, in addition to several dead animals, although Feyen’s brother told Johnson Feyen had moved the goats to a new location on August 1, according to the complaint.
Misappropriation
Johnson informed Police Chief Lamkin the 77-year-old had passed away on September 19, 2019, and Johnson said she and representatives from Dunn County APS Healthcare Services became aware there had been a misappropriation of the assets of the two elderly individuals. One of the people had a pension that was mailed monthly in a paper check for $108.94 but that the check was not being deposited in the person’s bank account, according to the complaint.
Police Chief Lamkin reviewed the banking records and found a deposit for $108.94 in February of 2018 but no deposits in any of the other 17 months following, for an amount that would have been $1,851.98. Johnson also said a farmer had been renting land from the two elderly people and had been paying Feyen for the land rental. Overdue notices had been issued by Verizon and AT&T Mobility, Johnson said, but neither of the elderly people had cellular telephones, the complaint states.
Johnson also said when one of the people was scheduled to go into the nursing home, the Neighbors of Dunn County would not accept the individual until the debts of the other individual were paid up. Checks in the amount of $43,000 and $18,500 had been paid to the Neighbors, but none of their other expenses were ever paid, Johnson said, according to the complaint.
Bank records
Police Chief Lamkin reviewed bank records for the two elderly individuals and found 31 checks written between January 14, 2018, and January 25, 2019, for a total amount of $78,946.17. The police chief observed that checks worth $10,450 were written to Feyen, according to the complaint.
The police chief noted the signatures were that of both elderly individuals but all of the signatures appeared the same. Two of the checks were written to Synergy Cooperative, and when the police chief checked the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access records, he found a small claims case had been filed against Feyen on August 1, 2019, by Synergy Cooperative for debts in the amount of $1,340.05, the complaint states.
Police Chief Lamkin also observed 53 ATM withdrawals between January 2, 2018, and June 27, 2018, for a total of $7,304, and withdrawals between July 2018 and June of 2019 in the amount of $12,850.57 at the time both of the elderly individuals were at the Neighbors of Dunn County.
The police chief contacted a man who had rented land from the two people, and the man said he had sent a check for $3,300 in May of 2019 for the first half of the 2019 payment and two checks each for $3,300 in 2018 for renting the land. The man said he had mailed the checks to the home of two individuals, since he knew that one of them was in the nursing home. The total loss was $9,600, according to the complaint.
Expenses
Police Chief Lamkin made contact with Feyen, who admitted to having control of the finances of the two elderly individuals but said she had given up guardianship, the complaint states.
Feyen said she wrote checks to herself and the two elderly people had signed the checks. Feyen admitted to withdrawing money from the elderly individuals’ bank account and that she had taken the money out to pay two people to take care of one of the elderly people until the person went into the nursing home. Feyen said the checks for $10,450 were to take care of the elderly individuals’ expenses, according to the complaint.
Feyen said she had paid her bills and she had been told she should get paid for taking care of the elderly individuals. She said after the two people had gone into the nursing home, she had used their money to pay her expenses “for a little while to get caught up,” the complaint states.
The police chief made contact with one of the two women Feyen said she had paid to take care of one of the elderly people. The woman said she had helped take care of the elderly person but she had not been paid for her time and that she had exchanged favors with Feyen as friends, according to the complaint.
Feyen is scheduled for another court appearance February 4.
Each of the counts for which Feyen is charged includes a modifier for being perpetrated against an elderly or disabled person, which carries a penalty, upon conviction, of an additional fine of $10,000 for each count.
Fraudulent use of a financial transaction card in an amount greater than $10,000 and theft of movable property valued between $10,000 and $100,000 are both Class G felonies that carry a possible penalty for each count, upon conviction, of a fine of up to $25,000 and/or up to 10 years in prison.
The two counts of forgery, theft of movable property (special facts), and identity theft are Class H felonies that carry a possible penalty for each count, upon conviction, of a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to six years in prison.
Criminal damage to property is a Class I felony that carries a possible penalty, upon conviction, of a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to three years and six months in prison.