Schenectady woman admits theft of $300,000 from ailing father

SCHENECTADY — A 61-yearold woman faces up to seven years in prison after admitting she stole over $300,000 from her ailing father over the past few years as he was suffering from dementia, the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office said.

Elaine Perkins of Schenectady pleaded guilty Monday in Schenectady County Court to one count of felony grand larceny.

The district attorney’s office said in 2018 Perkins’ father made her power of attorney over his Social Security payments and state and military pensions. Around the same time, he was also diagnosed with dementia. In December 2021, Perkins placed him in a skilled rehabilitation facility in Hudson, well away from any family or friends, prosecutors said.

The man’s family became suspicious that something wasn’t right when tax liens were filed on the man’s house and loans he had went into default, even though he never had any previous credit problems. When they asked Perkins about the judgments and tax liens, she didn’t give a straight answer, so one of them went to the district attorney’s office, which then started investigating with the help of state and county agencies.

That probe found Perkins failed to pay any of her father’s bills and more than $100,000 to the nursing home and instead used the money to enrich herself, according to the district attorney’s office.

In a statement, District Attorney Robert Carney said “these crimes are difficult to expose, because they require painstaking investigations involving acquisition of many financial records and accounting analysis,” while the victim is unable to assist because of dementia or death.

He described the victim in this case, whom he met at one time, as “a decorated veteran, a proud patriot and one of the nicest gentleman I have had the honor to meet.”

“It is a shame in his last years his own daughter betrayed his love and trust,” Carney said. Under the terms of the plea agreement, she is expected to receive a sentence of 21⁄3 to 7 years in state prison and make a restitution, he said in the statement.

The case was handled by Assistant District Attorney William Lemon, bureau chief of the office’s Financial Crimes Unit. Attorney Andrew Safranko represented the defendant.