Couple Sentenced For Swindling $1M From Elderly Man With Dementia

SILVER SPRING, MD — A Silver Spring couple convicted of scamming an elderly man with dementia of over $1 million were sentenced to jail Monday.

Javier and Ana "Beti" Molina were found guilty of conspiracy and exploitation of a vulnerable adult for stealing $1.2 million from Gustave Shapiro, 99, of Aspen Hill. They gambled $200,000 of Shapiro's money and sent their daughter to college, prosecutors said.

Beti was sentenced to ten years in jail with five years of probation, while her husband was sentenced to six years with five years of probation.

Prosecutors said Beti became Shapiro's housekeeper when he was 95. She was hired shortly after Shapiro's wife of over 70 years passed away and worked for him for about three years.

Beti became Shapiro's caretaker and convinced him to sign over power of attorney to her and her husband, prosecutors said. From 2013 to 2016, the couple swindled money from Shapiro to buy a car, gamble, put down a payment on a house and pay for their daughter's college tuition.

See Related: Couple Steals Over $1M From Elderly Man With Dementia

Shapiro withdrew only $14,000 from his bank accounts in 2012, while $543,000, $37,200 and $231,000 were taken out over the following years. Bank employees noticed the suspicious transactions from Shapiro's account and tipped off authorities, prosecutors said. The fraud was not discovered until after Shapiro died at age 99.

"This is important and serves as a cautionary tale for anyone that has parents or grandparents that may need assisted-living or home health care workers or even cleaning crews coming into their home," Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office, said. "Be careful whom you trust."

The couple is required to pay $300,000 restitution at $500 a month as part of their sentencing, ABC 7 reports. After her jail sentence, Beti will not be allowed to work as a caregiver with adults over the age of 68.

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