CAREGIVING EMBEZZLER SENTENCED

BY STAN MADDUX

A New Buffalo woman has been sentenced to 90 days in the Berrien County Jail for siphoning more than $180,000 from the bank account of her bedridden great aunt.

Jamie Staback, 42, was also ordered to serve the remainder of her five-

year sentence on probation and pay back all of the money.

Her sentence was given December 28 by Berrien County Circuit Court Judge Sterling Schrock after she pleaded guilty in September to embezzlement.

In exchange for the guilty plea, she faced up to five-years instead of the 20-year maximum sentence.

According to New Buffalo Police, Staback was caregiver for her bedridden great aunt for the past six-years.

Police said Staback transferred more than $180,000 from the victim’s account into her own account then over the next 38 days spent close to $21,000 of the funds.

Staback was also power of attorney for the home bound woman responsible for handling the victim’s finances.

However, police said the account Staback just opened and placed the stolen funds into was strictly in her name and not a cent of the embezzled money went toward the victim’s care.

The investigation began in July when officials at the defendant’s bank suspicious about her recent transactions notified law enforcement and the victim.

Police said Staback, employed at the New Buffalo Animal Clinic at the time, spent the embezzled funds on things like medication for her pets.

Other monies went toward purchases at local gas station/convenience stores and a restaurant.

Authorities did not shed much light on the remainder of the expenditures but the last four transactions prior to her account being frozen totaled more than $5,000, police said.

Police said the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office asked the victim how she felt about reaching a plea agreement in the case.

Initially, police said the victim expressed more of an interest in her niece going to jail.

When informed jail time and a refund of her money would be part of the terms of a guilty plea, the victim went along with it, police said.

Jeff Taylor, chief trial attorney for the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office, said over $160,000 of the stolen funds remained in Staback’s account and will be given back to the victim.

Staback is responsible for coming up with the rest of the funds.

Amber Poff, an attorney from LaPorte specializing in guardianship matters, said one option for the elderly to protect themselves against fraud is hiring a lawyer or some other professional to be their power of attorney.

Entering into such a service contract might be cost prohibitive for some people but it eliminates the risk of a family member becoming dishonest.

Poff said a professional can also be hired to evaluate the ability of a family member appointed power of attorney to carry out their obligations.

‘’You don’t want to be cynical. You don’t want to be suspicious of everyone but by the same token you got to do your due diligence,’’ she said.

Poff said another line of protection for seniors is remaining active in church or other places like a senior center or bowling league.

If isolated, fraudulent activity could go unnoticed because nobody is around to discover anything unusual like bills going unpaid or ‘’someone showing up in a brand new car,’’ she said.

Poff said placing assets into a trust and having a trust company for a fee take care of financial obligations out of that trust is another option for seniors.