Pastor Who Stole Dying Man's Money Sentenced

By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

A Moreno Valley pastor who stole tens of thousands of dollars from a dying World War II veteran unable to manage his affairs because of dementia was sentenced Monday to three years probation and ordered to pay restitution to the victim’s family.

Matthew Taylor, 42, pleaded guilty last week to financial elder abuse with a sentence-enhancing allegation of destroying property in the commission of a felony.

In exchange for his plea, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office dropped nine related felony counts against Taylor, an associate minister of the First Apostolic Faith Church, where his father-in-law is chief pastor.

Under the sentencing terms negotiated between the prosecution and defense, Taylor will be barred from acting in any caregiving capacity for the duration of his probation.

Superior Court Judge Helios Hernandez also ordered Taylor to pay $13,000 in victim restitution -- at a per annum interest rate of 10 percent, accrued over nearly four years.

Taylor was already forced to disgorge $140,000 in ill-gotten funds, and the District Attorney’s Office succeeded in freezing another $44,000 in illegally acquired assets, according to Deputy District Attorney Janet Hasegawa.

Taylor’s victim was 87-year-old Lawrence Fusha of Altadena, who met the defendant in the first weeks of 2011. At the time, Fusha, who served a two-year stint in the Navy at the end of World War II, was fighting a losing battle with lung cancer and receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Loma Linda.

“He only had three or four months to live,” Fusha’s nephew, Denny Smith of Pleasanton, told City News Service.

“He needed care and attention. He met the criminal, Taylor, through a mutual friend. Taylor seemed legitimate, but it was all a very convincing act. He was nothing more than a con man.”

Fusha was invited to live with Taylor, his wife and teenage daughter in their Moreno Valley townhouse. According to Smith, they put the victim in a spare bedroom, where he remained for around six weeks.

Almost immediately, Smith said, Taylor had Fusha delegate him power-of- attorney over all his affairs.

“My uncle was satisfied being there. He was signing papers because he trusted this guy,” Smith told City News Service. “But he was confused. The dementia affected him. He was in a vulnerable position.”

According to Hasegawa, Taylor convinced the victim to take out a reverse mortgage on his Altadena home, providing more than a quarter-million dollars in ready cash.

Taylor then had Fusha sign a cashier’s check over to him in the amount of $150,000. That money was used for the outright purchase of a Perris home for the defendant and his wife, Debra Belle-Taylor, a Riverside County employee. She was not charged in the embezzlement case.

“The defendant bought the home after Mr. Fusha had gone into the hospital,” Hasegawa said. “He later claimed that he planned to have the victim come live with them in Perris after he was discharged from the hospital.”

Fusha spent three months in hospice care at the medical center before ultimately succumbing to the cancer.

According to Hasegawa, the entire time Fusha was hospitalized, Taylor collected and cashed the victim’s Social Security checks and his union pension checks.

According to Smith, an alert banker noted suspicious activity in Fusha’s account, prompting him to notify Riverside County Adult Protective Services, which culminated in a sheriff’s investigation and charges against Taylor.

“What’s particularly disgusting is Matthew Taylor is a pastor,” Smith said. “I’m an elder in my church. You just respect someone in a high position. And people look up to him.”

Smith said Taylor sold his family on the idea that he loved to be a caregiver.

“Looking back, we should have asked a lot more questions and been a little less trusting,” Smith said.

“If things don’t sound right, you have to get a little more involved and make sure that an elderly person has everything in order -- their will and plans for end-of-life care.”

Smith said he and his uncle’s other heirs spent three years in a civil court battle with Taylor to recoup Fusha’s assets. He estimated that the legal wrangling cost the estate about $285,000 -- more than half of what it was worth.