Top Ads
ICN Poll
Isanti County News
763-689-1981
Fax: 763-689-4372
Fax: 763-689-4372
234 Main Street
Cambridge, MN 55008
Cambridge, MN 55008
Community
| School |
| On the Go |
| Community Links |
Opinion
| Editorials |
| Reader's Forum |
Classifieds
| Quick Post Classifieds |
| View Classifieds |
| Order Classifieds |
Public Notices
| View Public Notices |
| Gambling venture or financial exploitation? |
|
|
| Wednesday, 20 February 2008 | |
|
By Evelyn Puffer Contributing writer An elderly Cambridge man is estimated to have lost $34,000 in a Blackjack betting venture that authorities say he claims he knew nothing about. His son, who has been handling the older man’s money, is vehement that his father knew he was using the money to gamble and that he paid him a 10 percent commission when he won. He also claims his father owes him money. Possible problems with the older man’s finances arose in September 2007 when his daughter, who has Power of Attorney for the man, started questioning where his money was going. She contacted the Cambridge Police Department with suspicions about her brother, Rick, who has been living with his father since February 2007 and who she believed had been taking cash advances from the older man’s credit card, checking account and savings accounts. Rick Steven Wallat, 56, told investigators that when his father noticed his savings account balance going down he had explained it was because of payment for the older man’s prescriptions, insurance, and other expenses. Wallat said he then started paying for his father’s prescriptions out of his own pocket and that his father would reimburse him when the total reached $1,000. According to the criminal complaint lodged against him last week, Wallat told investigators he was going to have his father use a convenience check drawn on the older man’s credit card account to pay him back. According to Wallat, his father agreed to the arrangement. He also said he had paid the elder man’s home insurance and property taxes for the last year out of his personal cash and that he had paid $150 per month rent to live at his father’s home. Wallat said he had controlled his father’s credit cards with his father’s permission and that the older man had agreed to the plan to go into business together where Wallat would play Blackjack and pay his father 10 percent of his winnings. They also agreed not to tell other family members because they “would be upset.” According to the criminal complaint lodged in 10th District Court, Wallat would play Blackjack at the casino but if he needed backup money, he would go to the ATM or use his father’s credit cards, with what he said was the older man’s permission. With a $300 per day limit on the ATM machine, Wallat said he would withdraw $300 in Cambridge and then an additional $300 at the casino after 2:30 a.m. the next day. All of the withdrawals, he said, were with his father’s permission. The account balances on three credit cards hit approximately $36,000 and the elder Wallat, who has been blind since February 2007, told investigators he was shocked to find he had apparently been financing his son’s gambling. Because he was blind, he said he could only ask about the bills he owed and that his son told him everything was fine. The elder Wallat also told investigators that when his son left to play Blackjack, he would be left alone with no way to move around the home because of his lack of sight. Wallat appeared in court Feb. 13 where he was formally charged with felony financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult-failure to provide care. He will appear next Feb. 20. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
