Delco man sentenced for stealing almost $1M from elderly couple
WEST CHESTER » A parttime handyman from Delaware County who siphoned almost $1 million from his unwitting employers to fund a lifestyle of luxury has been sent to prison after repaying the funds he stole.
On Monday, Clifton Kindt Willson of Villanova appeared before Common Pleas Court Judge Phyllis Streitel for sentencing after having made final payment on the $927,100 restitution bill he had run up by stealing from the elderly couple. Willson worked for Paul and Esther Gansky for seven years as a house painter at their Willistown horse farm.
He had stolen blank checks from them and then made them out to himself, forging the signature a total 148 times, in amounts ranging from $900 — the salary that the couple paid him on a weekly basis for his work — to $18,000. According to the prosecution, he used the money to buy himself expensive sports cars, a Bahamas vacation, real estate investments and other luxury items.
In contrast to the sentencing recommendation of 11-1/2 to 23 months in jail urged by Assistant District Attorney Basil Joy, which is close the maximum allowed in a county prison, Streitel imposed a sentence that fell below the standard guidelines on theft charges that call for at least nine months behind bars.
Streitel sentenced the 36-year-old to three to 23 months in Chester County Prison, followed by two years of probation. Upon parole, he must spend the remainder of his jail sentence on electronic home confinement.
Streitel also ordered Willson, who serves as a psychotherapist, to refrain from counseling for the length of his sentence, and to write a letter of apology to the victimized couple.
That letter may not be warmly received. Writing to the court in January, a month after Willson pleaded guilty to charges of felony theft by unlawful taking, forgery, access device fraud and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, the Ganskys said that they did not believe he was remorseful about his crimes against them.
They noted that Willson had stalled for months at repaying them the money he stole, even though he admitted the thefts immediately when confronted by police. He balked at selling his Villanova home, and initially paid back only what he had in the bank at the time of his arrest.
“In light of the crime, and the subsequent impact on out lives, this is not nearly enough,” the couple said in their victim impact statement submitted on Monday. “We don’t believe for a second that he is sorry for his actions, or that he cares how much he hurt us emotionally and financially.”
The Ganskys, well into their retirement years, said that they had been living on a strict financial regimen of interest from their investments, but since the theft had been forced to downgrade their expenses. “We are sure that before this entire episode is over, it will have cost us heavily,” they stated.
In asking Streitel for a lengthy county sentence, Joy pointed not only to the total amount stolen and the multiple thefts over a period of several months, but also to the Ganskys’ ages at the time and the trust they had placed in Willson as an employee.
“This was not a case of theft arising from financial need,” Joy said, but one “fueled by greed and catalyzed by opportunity,” noting his position as a therapist and his generous income from the Ganskys. “They also gave him their trust. It was this trust that (Willson) breached each and every time he decided to steal from the elderly couple. He stole from them not once, but 148 times.”
For his part, Willson, accompanied at the hearing by his attorney, Christian Hoey of Paoli, said that he had begun the thefts because of an overmedication of prescription anti-depression drugs. He claimed that the drugs led to “induced psychopathy,” which led to the thefts.
According to information released at the time of his arrest in April 2016, Willson stole blank checks from the couple while he worked at the estate from May 2014 to February 2016. He would allegedly write his name on the check and forge the signature of Esther Gansky, and then deposit the checks into his bank account.
Over a period of several months, Willson then allegedly used the money he stole to fund a lavish lifestyle, far beyond what the normal income of a parttime painter paid $900 a week could afford.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Willistown Detective Steven Jones and Chester County Detective Robert J. Balchunis Jr., Willson bought two Maseratis, a Porsche SUV, a Land Rover SUV; $16,000 in jewelry from Tiffany & Co., Cartier, and Louis Vuitton; and $20,000 in home electronics; as well as another $16,000 in musical equipment and supplies.
In addition, the detectives said in their complaint that bank records show that Willson spent $27,000 on trips and vacations, $84,000 on home improvements, and used some of the money to pay for his children to attend private school.
“The idea that $1 million of hard-earned money was spent on ego-driven fallacious activities like trips to New York City, $10,000 luxury watches, and $150,000 sports cars is sickening,” Joy quoted the victims as saying.