YONKERS WOMAN INDICTED FOR STEALING $275,000 FROM FORMER COWORKER DISABLED BY STROKES

 

Defendant, A DEP Employee, Allegedly Forged Will, Power of Attorney and Healthcare Proxy Documents for Elderly Man 

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Yonkers woman has been indicted for stealing at least $275,000 from a 78-year-old Bronx man who was debilitated by strokes and other profound health issues. The defendant allegedly possessed forged documents that enabled her to access the victim’s bank account and withdraw a thousand dollars a day for about a year. 

District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly exploited her elderly former coworker, who was suffering from deteriorating physical and mental health. She allegedly used forged documents and depleted the man’s life savings. The alleged actions are callous bordering on inhumane.”

New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “This defendant – a City worker - stole from a former colleague who was elderly and in poor health by forging documents, including powers of attorney, a living will and a healthcare proxy, to facilitate the theft of more than $275,000 from the victim, according to the charges. As is also alleged, the defendant, acting with others, deprived the vulnerable victim of necessary care. The charged conduct displays a shocking disregard for the victim and a lack of basic human decency, far below the high standards we have for City employees. I thank Adult Protective Services for referring this matter to DOI and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for its partnership in this important investigation.”

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Shameca W. Morrison, 40, of Yonkers, was arraigned today on second-degree Grand Larceny, four counts of second-degree Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, and first-degree Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Kim Parker. She is due back in court on April 17, 2025.

According to the investigation, between June 1, 2021, and August 2022, the defendant embezzled funds from her former co-worker at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. The defendant started stealing money after the victim had had two strokes and was showing signs of cognitive decline. The victim suffered continued deteriorating health from the effects of cancer and dementia. The defendant allegedly made daily ATM withdrawals from the victim’s bank account, at the rate of approximately $1,000 a day. To justify and further her conduct, she showed bank employees and a social worker at Adult Protective Services two forged Powers of Attorney, a forged Living Will, and a forged Healthcare Proxy. 

According to the investigation, Morrison, without lawful authority to do so, took physical custody of the victim from the nursing home where he had been residing, and moved the victim into her uncle’s home. In doing so, the defendant allegedly deprived the victim of the financial security and physical and emotional care he required, given his disabilities and cognitive issues. 

District Attorney Clark thanked Monique T. Scott, Crisis Case Manager of BronxWorks Adult Protective Services, Deputy Inspector General Jordan Buff, of the NYC DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for DEP, supervised by Inspector General Kathryn Spota, Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives Christopher Ryan and Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominick Zarrella; and Secretary of State for the State of New York Walter T. Mosley, and the New York State Division of Licensing Services.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.