(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater woman has admitted financially exploiting an 89-year-old Stillwater man by writing checks out of his bank account totaling $454,813 for her own use — while she was his court-appointed guardian — between March 2010 and August 2012.
Dana Kathleen Frank, 58, who was removed as the man’s guardian on Sept. 6, 2012, wrote in her guilty plea on Feb. 14, “I purchased property and paid for it out of funds of a person I was caring for,” court records show.
Frank was allowed to remain free on a personal recognizance bond by District Judge Phillip Corley, who ordered a background report and scheduled her sentencing for May 23, court records show.
Stillwater Police Detective Richard Leport wrote in an affidavit that “On Sept. 7, 2012, Stillwater Police Officer Jeremiah Johnson met with Stacey Reed, who is employed by Adult Protective Services at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.”
Reed reported that she had recently discovered Frank had embezzled funds from an 89-year-old man, who resides at an assisted living facility in Stillwater, the affidavit said.
Frank had been appointed in Payne County District Court as guardian for the man on March 9, 2010, and was removed from that post on Sept. 6, 2012, the affidavit said.
When Reed reviewed the bank records for the man’s checking account, she found “182 checks signed by Dana Frank as the guardian that were payable to Dana Frank,” the affidavit said.
The checks, dated between March 18, 2010, and Aug. 7, 2012, totaled approximately $454,813, the affidavit said.
Financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult by a caretaker is a felony punishable by a maximum penalty of a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine, according to the charge filed by First Assistant District Attorney Mike Kulling.
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