Mom, daughter stole over $500,000 from 92-year-old with dementia in Florida, feds say

A mother and daughter hired to care for a 92-year-old with dementia are accused of stealing more than half a million dollars from her, according to federal prosecutors.

The woman’s niece hired Diane Durbon, 58, of Cape Coral, Florida and her daughter, Brittany Lukasik, also of Cape Coral, in 2016 to visit the 92-year-old daily at her North Fort Myers home, where they were expected to ensure she ate and to socialize with her, court documents state.

Over time, Durbon gained control over the woman’s finances — including her investment accounts and annuity policy — resulting in about $542,700 in stolen money deposited into Lukasik’s bank accounts between January 2019 and March 2020, prosecutors said.

With the woman’s money, Durbon and Lukasik bought a $26,000 car, paid off car and student loan debts, bought a lakefront duplex in Cape Coral and spent over $100,000 to buy electronics and furniture and to remodel their new home, according to prosecutors. They’re also accused of making more than $100,000 in credit card purchases.

Now, Durbon and Lukasik have been sentenced to federal prison in connection with the theft and must forfeit the Cape Coral duplex, two cars and $542,760, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced in an Aug. 18 news release. The duplex has an estimated market value of $408,090, Lee County Property Appraiser records show.

A judge sentenced Durbon to 10 years in prison on a charge of a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and sentenced Lukasik to two years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and filing a false tax return, the release said.

This comes after the pair pleaded guilty to the charges in March, according to prosecutors.

Criminal defense attorney Douglas Molloy, who represented Lukasik, declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on Aug. 21. McClatchy News contacted Jean-Paul Galasso, an attorney representing Durbon, for comment on Aug. 21 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

How the theft unfolded

After Durbon and Lukasik were hired as the woman’s caretaker’s in 2016 following her onset of dementia, Durbon gained access to her investment accounts in October 2017, according to her plea agreement.

To do so, investigators learned Durbon had the woman, identified only as T.H., read a script with answers to security questions while speaking to a Vanguard account representative over the phone, the plea agreement says.

Surveillance cameras Durbon had installed inside the woman’s home captured Durbon placing a script in front of the woman during these calls, prosecutors said.

Access to the woman’s investment accounts allowed Durbon to move money from the accounts to a Prime Money Market Account, according to prosecutors.

Then, checks “in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $9,600” were issued from this account to Lukasik’s accounts, Durbon’s plea agreement says.

By November 2018, Durbon went on to access the woman’s annuity policy — “similarly to how she had unlawfully gained access to T.H.’s investment accounts,” according to prosecutors.

In January 2019, she lied on the woman’s behalf and said the woman wanted to cash out her annuity policy — resulting in the annuity to issue a $244,521 check to one of the woman’s checking accounts, prosecutors said.

Afterward, $372,092 from 92 checks was issued to Lukasik from the woman’s checking account between February 2019 and March 2020, prosecutors said.

Lukasik never reported receiving the funds when she filed her 2019 tax return, according to the release.

Durbon and Lukasik’s sentences are the result of an investigation involving the U.S. Secret Service, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the release said.

Support for financial fraud involving victims ages 60 or older can be found by calling the Justice Department’s National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Cape Coral is about 160 miles northwest of Miami.

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