South Jersey Man Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Defraud Elderly Clients

A Linwood man pleaded guilty to stealing $125,000 from an elderly couple he met as a caseworker for Atlantic County Adult Protective Services, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced on Friday.

William Price, 57, pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of theft by deception on Friday. He faces five years in state prison and restitution of the full $125,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18.

He was indicted in March along with the owner of an in-home senior care company in Atlantic County and her sister in a scheme to defrauding elderly clients out of millions of dollars, and laundering the funds through various accounts.

He was indicted on March 16 along with Jan Van Holt, 59, of Linwood, owner of A Better Choice, a company that offered elderly clients in-home care and legal financial planning; Sondra Steen, 60, of Linwood, Van Holt’s sister, who helped run the company; and Susan Hamlett, 56, of Egg Harbor Township, who worked as an aide for company clients. A physician, Dr. Maria Teresa S. Daclan, 53, of Galloway Township, is charged with lying to State Police during the investigation.

Van Holt and Steen allegedly conspired with Barbara Lieberman, 63, of Northfield, a lawyer who specialized in elder law, to steal over $2.7 million from 12 elderly clients from January 2003 through December 2012.

Lieberman pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced on March 25 to 10 years in prison, including 3 ½ years of parole ineligibility. She forfeited $3 million in assets as well as her law license.

On Friday, Price admitted he stole $125,000 from a couple he met in 2006 through his job as a caseworker for Atlantic County. Price, who worked with Van Holt at Adult Protective Services, befriended the elderly couple and recruited them as clients for Van Holt, Steen and Lieberman, who allegedly stole more than $800,000 from the couple. Price received $125,000 of the stolen funds.

“Price callously betrayed the trust and friendship of an elderly couple to enrich himself,” Hoffman said. “As a social worker, he should have been all about helping them, but instead he set them up to have their savings stolen by him and his co-defendants.”

“Anyone who targets the elderly for fraud deserves stern punishment, but Price’s conduct was even more egregious because he victimized an ailing couple he encountered in his official position as a caseworker for Adult Protective Services,” Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice said.

“Price’s actions strike a particularly sour chord because he was supposed to be on the front lines of protecting the rights of the very people he helped to victimize,” Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said. “I am proud of the work by my detectives and all involved who delivered justice to the responsible criminals in this case.”

The charges against Van Holt, Steen and Hamlett are pending.

Hamlett is charged in connection with a single client, a woman from whom Lieberman, Van Holt, Steen and Hamlett allegedly conspired to steal about $112,000.

Van Holt worked as a caseworker for Atlantic County Adult Protective Services from 2002 through December 2007, when she was terminated.

Five of the 12 alleged victims targeted by Van Holt, Steen and Lieberman were recruited as clients after they came into contact with Van Holt through her official public position as a caseworker.

It is alleged that Van Holt generally was the one to identify potential clients, approaching them to offer the services of A Better Choice and Lieberman. The defendants allegedly targeted elderly clients with substantial assets who typically did not have any immediate family, offering them non-medical care and services, including household chores, errands, driving clients to appointments, scheduling, budgeting, paying bills, balancing checkbooks, and other tasks. They did not provide healthcare services.

Once a target accepted Van Holt’s offer of services, Steen usually would be put in place as the victim’s primary caregiver. In the case of the elderly couple connected to Price, Price also provided extensive assistance, particularly with household repairs. Lieberman would then be brought in to do legal work, preparing powers of attorney and wills for the clients. Lieberman was a leading specialist in elder law in Atlantic County who gave seminars to senior citizens on end of life affairs, wills and living wills.

They allegedly took control of the finances of their victims by forging a power of attorney or obtaining one on false pretenses. They then added their names to the victims’ bank accounts or transferred the victims’ funds into new accounts they controlled. Thereafter, the defendants allegedly stole from the accounts to pay their own expenses, including, for Van Holt and Steen – who lived together – veterinary bills for their pets, pool supplies, two Mercedes cars owned by Van Holt, and lease payments on a Florida condo.

A portion of the money was allegedly used to fund the victim’s continued expenses to keep the victim unaware of the thefts. In some cases, money from one victim would be transferred to another victim to pay expenses and cover up the thefts.

If the victim owned stocks or bonds, those funds were allegedly cashed out and deposited into the account allegedly controlled by the defendants.

When Lieberman prepared wills for the victims, she typically named herself or Van Holt as executor of the estate and named Steen as a beneficiary, or named other beneficiaries who had little or no ties to the victim and never actually received anything from the estate.

The defendants allegedly relied on fraud, manipulation or forgery in the execution of the wills. In this manner, they allegedly continued to steal from the victims’ estates after they died.

Lieberman and Van Holt were arrested on March 19, 2014. Van Holt previously was arrested with Steen and Hamlett on Dec. 20, 2012, in connection with one victim.

The investigation began after the New Jersey Office of the Public Guardian referred the case of that victim to the State Police. In addition to the first-degree conspiracy and money laundering charges against Van Holt and Steen, they and Hamlett are charged with second-degree counts of conspiracy, money laundering and theft.

The attached image of William Price was provided by the Attorney General