Elderly care is crucial when it comes to the wellbeing of aging grandparents or parents. Much of Chicago’s elderly population live in assisted living homes or are cared for privately by a caretaker. Those who are aging and sick are often victims to scheming plots, usually involving money and inheritance. Today’s case involves a wise dentist, his sneaky daughter, a five million dollar estate, and a 93 year old man living with a private caretaker at home.
The “Concerned” Daughter
RGH Investigations received a call from an attorney with an unusual suspicion. The partner has a cousin, who is a dentist. The dentist has a daughter, a recently fired state attorney. He also has an elderly father, who stays at home with a caretaker. The caretaker lives with the elderly father full time, and many of her belongings are located at his home. She has been living with the father for nearly 2 years at the time of this case. Nearly two weeks ago, the attorney received a call from the daughter, who claimed her grandfather was being drugged by morphine. She mentioned this to her father, the dentist. He wondered where this information was coming from, and his daughter says that the grandfather is not looking very well. His health seems to be declining and is more exhausted than usual. The daughter is in regular communication with the caretaker.
Trusting his daughter’s word, the dentist decided to visit his father that Saturday. He noticed that the caretaker was being rude and standoffish, unlike her usual self. The dentist noticed the caretaker was eyeing him as if he had done something wrong. Quickly, the conversation of his father being drugged arose. The caretaker claimed that she can give morphine to the grandfather to ease his pain, but was not actively doing so. After conversing with his daughter about the suspicious interactions with the caretaker, the daughter brings up becoming Power of Attorney over her grandfather. The dentist immediately declines. He suspected from that moment on that his daughter and the caretaker may be planning a scheme to take over the Power of Attorney, control the inheritance money, and inherit a 5 million dollar estate.
Time to Move Out
The dentist immediately contacted his attorney, who then contacted RGH Investigations. The first step we took was to terminate the employment of the healthcare nurse. RGH Investigations, along with the dentist, headed over to the elderly man’s home. We were a neutral party in the presence of the confrontation between the dentist and the caretaker. Concerned that the scheme was already in the works, we suspected that the daughter may try to get her grandfather to sign the Power of Attorney.
As he is not feeling well, her grandfather may be easily swindled into signing the document. We had to move fast. Once RGH Investigations and the dentist arrived, the caretaker’s elderly care employment was terminated. She was shocked, and later reluctant to accept the termination. She claimed that there was no reason to fire her, and called the police. RGH Investigations then proceeded to call the police to be sure we were on the record as well. The police arrived and advised that the caretaker cannot be kicked out due to her many items still in the elderly man’s home. It would have to be treated as an eviction. They advised her to move out slowly.
The Awkward Run-In
After the caretaker’s elderly care termination, the dentist noticed something unusual. His father wasn’t at his house! Furious, he asked where his father was. The caretaker reluctantly told the dentist that his father was taken to the hospital. They were to take bloodwork to see if there was morphine in his system. An employee of RGH Investigations stayed back at the dentist’s father’s house to assure the caretaker’s leave, and another headed with the dentist to the hospital.
Interestingly, as the dentist entered the hospital, he ran into his daughter and her husband also entering the hospital! The daughter immediately exclaimed that he cannot be there. In fact, she blamed the morphine poisoning on the dentist. Security was involved, and took the dentist, his daughter, her husband and the RGH employee to the waiting room. The hospital administration told the dentist that she received a call from the daughter claiming that she was the Power of Attorney, and would not allow the dentist to see his father. The dentist claimed there were no such documents, and proceeded to show his Power of Attorney to the hospital. The administrator decided to honor the dentist’s power of attorney. Immediately, the dentist banned his daughter from seeing his father, and she had to leave the hospital.
The Scheme
The dentist’s suspicions were right all along. The daughter intended to test her grandfather for the morphine, which would have shown up in trace amounts from months prior, where he was given some morphine for an operation. She then hoped to blame the dentist for the morphine poisoning, so that she could claim Power of Attorney and receive the money. As she was having financial troubles, was recently fired, and struggling to pay her childcare fees, she saw this to potentially help. RGH Investigations proceeded to get orders of protection for the elderly man. The caretaker also left peacefully.
Last Notes
This case is a real situation in which there was mistreatment in elderly care. If you or someone you know suspects mistreatment in elderly care, contact RGH Investigations to assist your case today at 312.981.8770.
