From: judgebean23x@gmail.com   
      
   Prosecutors: Woman convinces man with dementia to pay her thousands   
      
   Ellison Barber, WUSA   
   1 hour ago   
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   MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WUSA9) -- Prosecutors in Montgomery County say a DC   
   woman convinced an elderly man with dementia to give her thousands of dollars.   
   A jury convicted Phanta Daramy of four counts related to theft of a vulnerable   
   adult.   
   A spokesperson for the Montgomery County State's Attorney told WUSA9 that   
   Daramy's actions were "cowardly."   
   "This victim was someone who was just so trusting and so vulnerable. Not only   
   because of his age and his onset of dementia but...he has no family," said   
   Ramon Korionoff.   
      
   Daramy told detectives she met the 81-year-old man at a Giant grocery store,   
   and it was love at first sight.   
   According to charging documents, Daramy claimed that when they "touched hands"   
   he said she was "the chosen one" and he wanted to marry her.   
   However, prosecutors say their "love story" is exactly that - a story.   
   "This victim had lost his wife, tragically, to illness just a year prior to   
   meeting Phanta Daramy, and this individual had represented herself as someone   
   who could be a nurse aide of sorts," Korionoff said.   
   "Little by little she gained his trust and completely took over."   
   In September of 2015, over the course of three days, investigators say Daramy   
   had the elderly man transfer over $52,000 to her personal bank account and her   
   cousin's bank account as well.   
   During that time period, she and the victim also went to a jewelry store in   
   Wheaton, Maryland - there they spent $11,951.   
   On September 29, the transfers hit a snag.   
   Four days after the first transfer, charging documents say the pair went into   
   another bank and requested a wire transfer. The bank clerk told detectives   
   "Daramy did all of the talking," and the elderly man "appeared not to know   
   what was going on."   
      
   The clerk "refused to complete the transfer of funds" and documents say she   
   filed a report with the Montgomery County Adult Protection Service.   
   Experts say this sort of scenario is far from rare.   
   "It's in the tens of thousands every year," explained Erik Goodman, a senior   
   attorney with AARP's Legal Counsel for the Elderly.   
   "It's a bit like domestic violence in that a great deal of it goes unreported."   
   The majority of crimes like this are carried out by relatives, according to a   
   number of studies. One such study, from the Stanford Center for Longevity,   
   found that people over the age of 65 are roughly 35 percent more likely to   
   have lost money due to    
   fraud than people in their forties.   
   Goodman says preventing exploitation of "vulnerable adults" takes diligence   
   from individuals and the people around them.   
   "There are inevitably going to be folks who slip and can't handle their   
   affairs very well anymore and it really takes all of us to look out for that   
   and it's okay to even be a tiny bit nosey," Goodman said.   
   Daramy is set to be sentenced in late July. She faces up to 55 years behind   
   bars.   
       
      
      
   http://www.wusa9.com/mb/news/local/maryland/prosecutors-woman-co   
   vices-man-with-dementia-to-pay-her-thousands/216929376   
      
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