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Schenectady resident Elaine Perkins, age 61, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in Schenectady County Court on Monday, March 4.
Prosecutors said Perkins stole more than $300,000 from her elderly father over the course of several years after he was diagnosed with dementia and named her as his power of attorney in 2018.
Relatives grew concerned after the woman placed the victim in a rehabilitation home in December 2021. That’s when they started noticing tax liens filed on his Schenectady house, as well as default judgments against him in connection with defaulted loans.
According to prosecutors, Perkins was evasive when family members confronted her over her father’s financial accounts, which were funded each month by payments from social security and his state and military pensions.
An investigation by the Schenectady County DA’s office found that Perkins failed to pay any of her father’s bills, including more than $100,000 to the Hudson nursing home where he was placed.
Schenectady County DA Robert Carney said financial crimes are often difficult to expose as they require painstaking investigation involving many records and accounting analyses.
“Ed Perkins, the victim in this, was well known in our community. He was a decorated veteran, a proud patriot and one of the nicest gentlemen I have had the honor to meet,” Carney said. “It is a shame in his last years his own daughter betrayed his love and trust.”
Under the terms of her plea agreement, Perkins is expected to get between 2 ½ and 7 years in prison.
She will also have to pay over $311,000 in restitution to the now-deceased victim's estate and nearly $15,000 to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
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