A Florida continuing care retirement community is out $55,000 after a former resident’s son stole more than $2 million from his mother’s trust fund earlier this year.
Bryan Weber, the sole trustee of his mother’s account since 2015, was sentenced to 12 years in prison last week for the charge of exploiting the elderly. His mother, a resident of Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, FL, had a trust worth $2.2 million before she died in 2019. That year, Weber’s siblings discovered that more than $70,000 was owed to the CCRC, the IRS and the funeral home — debts that were Weber’s responsibility. Approximately $55,000 of these debts were owed to Oak Hammock for the resident’s living expenses.
Gainesville Police said they found several large trust fund transfers to Weber’s and his wife’s bank accounts, including a transfer covering more than $700,000 toward a home remodel, according to a report by WJCB.
Weber was ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution and court costs.
“In our field, we are trained to recognize signs of elder abuse, including physical, emotional or financial. It’s our responsibility, as providers, to notify the appropriate authorities and family members when we identify unusual or suspicious activity, as we did in this case,” Kevin Ahmadi, CEO and president of Oak Hammock, told McKnight’s Senior Living. “The health and safety of our residents is priority number one, and we are committed to identifying and preventing any form of abuse in our resident communities.”
