Couple arrested in bilking scam

Authorities say they took nearly $25,000 from an elderly woman they were taking care of.

By JOHN FRANK, Times Staff Writer
Published December 18, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - A Brooksville couple are behind bars after authorities say they bilked about $25,000 from an 88-year-old woman in their care.

Heather Ungood, 26, and Louis Crews, 43, face charges of exploitation of the elderly and neglect of an elderly person, Sheriff's Office arrest reports state.

Ungood, her 3-year-old daughter and her boyfriend, Crews, lived with the elderly Brooksville woman while Ungood was the primary caregiver. The Sheriff's Office began to investigate them in early November after the elderly woman's bank tipped off a Florida Department of Children and Families officer about questionable withdrawals from the woman's account.

After initial questioning by investigators, the couple fled to Pennsylvania, where Crews is from, abandoning the woman with just water and crackers for at least a day before she was found by a neighbor, reports state.

Ungood and Crews were caught Nov. 19 by local authorities in Palmerton, Pa., and extradited to Hernando County on Sunday. During her arrest, Ungood told authorities that she was responsible and they could let Crews go.

Based on interviews with the victim and neighbors, investigators believe the alleged scheme took place over the course of several months after the victim signed on with Comfort Keepers, a Spring Hill-based service that provides care to the elderly. Ungood was assigned to care for her.

Bob Runnels, the manager of the local Comfort Keepers, said the victim requested assistance four days a week, starting June 9. But about a month later she canceled, saying her condition had improved. Soon after, Ungood quit.

"Apparently she cut a deal with the client," Runnels said in an interview.

He made clear that Ungood was not employed with his company when the alleged incidents took place. "Our reputation is second to none," he said. "I wouldn't allow anything like that to happen."

Hernando detective Jeff Craft wrote in the investigative report that Ungood established trust with the victim, who suffered from mental lapses.

"The victim stated that in the beginning the suspect took incredibly good care for her," he wrote. "This is how the suspect gained the trust of the victim and was able to commit these crimes."

The victim's medical condition was not disclosed, but reports indicate she was largely confined to a chair in the front room of her home. She asked Ungood to move in and paid her $450 per month and covered all living expenses, reports state.

The exploitation revolves around a number of checks the victim signed and gave Ungood for bills, food and medicine. In one particular month, the amount totaled $15,000.

The tangled financial relationship is difficult to unravel. Some of the money, the victim acknowledges, she gave to Ungood because the young mother was financially strapped and the victim "felt sorry for them."

But the victim's attitude toward Ungood changed after the investigation began. She told investigators that she knew she was being scammed but feared coming forward.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 352 754-6114.

[Last modified December 17, 2007, 20:09:22]