Overland Park man gets three years in scam against elderly

Man gets three years in scam against elderly

In an earlier blog post I wrote about an article I read about a caregiver taking money from her elderly patient.

Johnson County, Kansas prosecutor said that crimes against the elderly are rising.

In this blog post, I'm writing about how an Overland Park based company took approximately 1.2 million dollars from elderly customers.

Grant Wilms, 44, entered no-contest pleas previously to four felony counts of making a false writing and to four misdemeanor counts.

Wilms was the president of ASP Inc. in Overland Park. Prosecutors say the company and its predecessor, NHCD, stole about $1.2 million from the elderly between August 2008 and July 2009.

The scam hooked people seeking a discount on prescription drugs or dental work. As customers turned over bank or credit card information to the companies, scammers would take far more money out of the accounts than authorized, usually from $80 to $100 at a time.

I can truly understand how people can fall for these scams. People hear a story that sounds better than the one they are getting. For all we care it could be that they are paying $3.oo for gas. Everybody who has a car needs gas, right?

Somebody comes around and says if they buy gas from them, they will only be charged $2.00. How many people wouldn't start going to the place who charges $2.00 a gallon? Come on, everybody would, right?

These scam artist are doing the same thing. Everyone says that they wouldn't fall for them, but when you are on a tight budget, saving a couple dollars is a big deal.

As a diabetic, I get scammy looking deals every week. Hey if you buy your supplies from us, we'll save you X. And X is usually a BIG number.

Fortunately for me, I have good insurance. But what if I didn't have good insurance. I would probably take up one of the companies on their so called deals.

Last month, I heard through an email that a company was not recommended by my insurance company because of scammy deals.

These companies are everywhere and with the economy down, these companies are preying on the elderly and fixed income people.

What are you going to do to stop it?

Let us know what you think or add to our blog by writing a comment.

Blog post written by the Dowell Taggart Team of RE/MAX Best Associates

Your Kansas City Real Estate Marketing Masters!

Follow us on Twitter

Be our fan Facebook

Friend us on Facebook

Network with us on Ning

Follow us on Social Media

Search 21,000+ Kansas City Homes For Sale including foreclosures, short sales, luxury homes and more