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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ocala man charged with bilking elderly woman out of more than $100,000

Leonard Chiasson

An Ocala man is accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from an 84-year-old woman suffering from memory loss.

Leonard Chiasson, 60, of SW 86th Circle, was charged Tuesday with exploitation of an elderly person for $50,000 or more. Chiasson, who lived with the victim and had power of attorney, allegedly used the money to purchase an investment home and buy fireworks and rounds of drinks at his favorite bar, among other things.

An employee at Regions Bank told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy on Oct. 1, 2019, that the victim came to the bank and wanted to view her transactions because she suspected Chiasson was her using money to purchase an investment home. The bank employee said when the victim began to view her statements, she observed that Chiasson had spent well over $100,000 from her checking account, credit card and Raymond James investment account, according to the sheriff’s office report.

The deputy and a Division of Children and Families (DCF) investigator interviewed the victim on Oct. 15. She said Chiasson had been “kicked out” of his residence about three years ago and she has been letting him live with her since then and he assists her in the residence, the report said.

The victim said when she started losing her memory, she signed power of attorney over to Chiasson at his request. She said she understood what a power of attorney is and that Chiasson had permission to act on her behalf. At first, she didn’t believe Chiasson would take money from her that she wasn’t aware of. She said she didn’t notice any large amounts of money missing from her accounts and she denied taking large amounts out of her accounts for her personal use, according to the report.

When the deputy told the victim that Chiasson had possibly taken about $100,000 from her accounts, she said she doubted that he took her money but she has vision problems and cannot check her own accounts. The victim said she didn’t give Chiasson consent to use her money for the purchase of the home or to withdrawal money from her accounts and use her credit card, the report said.

The victim’s Regions Bank checking account statement showed cash withdrawals totaling $38,000 between March 30 and April 18, 2019. Her credit card statement from between March 23 and Oct. 23, 2019 showed approximately 123 charges on different dates and in various amounts made at Our Place Saloon totaling $6,800, according to the report.

During the same time, there were approximately 20 ATM withdrawals at Our Place Saloon in the amount of $203, each totaling $4,060. There also were about 10 ATM withdrawals totaling $2,700 made at various banks in Marion County. Between July 2 and July 5, 2019, there were four separate charges for fireworks totaling approximately $1,900, the report said.

The victim also has a Raymond James account that Chiasson had power of attorney over. A senior analyst with Raymond James said there were several withdrawals totaling about $130,000 during the time Chiasson had power of attorney. Chiasson was involved in all of the transactions, according to the report.

The deputy interviewed Chiasson last week. Chiasson said he became friends with the victim about three years ago and she eventually asked him to move in with her. He said after a while, he and Chiasson agreed he should have power of attorney over her due to her memory loss. Chiasson said the victim told him he could have everything she owned and was going to will all her belongings to him, the report said.

Chiasson said the victim told him he could have money from her account to purchase a house in Palm Cay, so he took $45,000 of the victim’s money to purchase a home where his soon-to-be ex-wife is currently living. He also admitted to making all the charges at Our Place Saloon and said he would buy himself and other patrons alcohol. Chiasson said he would sometimes bring the victim to the bar but normally went alone, according to the report.

Chiasson also admitted to taking money out of the ATM for his personal use, although he couldn’t account for personal items he purchased. He said he purchased the fireworks for the Fourth of July and took them to the bar, where he used them. Chiasson also admitted to using the victim’s credit card for trips to Clearwater with his wife and other transactions, including a $172 charge at Mark’s Prime Restaurant, the report said.

A bartender at Our Place Saloon, which is located at 7651 SE Highway 200, told the deputy that Chiasson frequents the bar almost every day and spends large amounts of cash when he is there. She said he also always has a lot of cash on him. The bartender said Chiasson is alone most of the time and she had just recently seen the victim there with him during the holidays. She said he bought drinks for others in the bar on multiple occasions, according to the report.

Chiasson was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released early Wednesday morning on $10,000 bond. No information about his court date was available.