Eleven people have been indicted on felony charges after a Cincinnati police investigation uncovered an alleged fraud scheme targeting residents of a Madisonville senior living community, including victims as old as 99, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, citing Cincinnati police.
The investigation began after an elderly resident of The Kenwood by Senior Star in Madisonville reported that checks had been stolen from his apartment, according to Cincinnati police as reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. What first appeared to be a single theft grew into an investigation involving stolen checks and credit card information belonging to elderly residents, police said.
A Cincinnati police detective spent months reviewing financial records, issuing subpoenas, interviewing witnesses and conducting surveillance, the Enquirer reported. Police said the investigation ultimately identified six victims between the ages of 85 and 99 and documented more than $38,000 in financial losses.
Investigators identified multiple people they say were involved in negotiating stolen checks, depositing stolen funds and making unauthorized purchases, according to police as reported by the Enquirer. Police did not immediately provide additional details about how the financial information was allegedly obtained or what relationship, if any, the accused had to the senior living community.
The case was presented to a grand jury, which returned indictments against 11 people on a total of 29 felony charges, police said in the Enquirer’s reporting.
Cases built the way police describe this one — a single resident’s report widening, over months of records work, into six identified victims — are a familiar pattern in elder-fraud investigations, where stolen checks and card details often surface only when a bank, a family member or a resident notices a charge that does not fit. Police, in the Enquirer’s reporting, did not say whether any of the losses have been recovered, or whether the community’s management has changed how mail and checks are handled inside the building.
Cincinnati police urged family members, caregivers and others to watch for signs of fraud or financial exploitation involving older adults and to report suspicious activity, the Enquirer reported. The indictments begin the court process for the 11 accused; arraignment dates were not included in the police account.