Caregiver Swindles $350,000 Out of Ailing Bachelor’s Estate

Carmelita Pasamba has been charged with financialexploitation of a senior citizen after allegedly using her position as live-incaregiver to cheat Marshall Davies out of over $350,000.

Pasamba, a nursing assistant at St. Joseph’s hospital inChicago, offered to provide at-home care for Davies after he was hospitalizedfor a hip injury in 2008.  Three monthslater, Pasamba hired an attorney to draft a power-of-attorney order togain control over Davies’ assets.  Withintwo months, Pasamba wrote herself checks totaling $55,000, paid herself $170,000in salary, and sold Davies’ condo while keeping a $50,000 bonus. 

Pasamba’s sister and husband have also been charged withfinancial exploitation of a senior citizen for benefitting from Pasamba’sactions.  Davies, a retired city engineernearing 90, was diagnosed with dementia about a year before Pasamba begantaking advantage of him.  Alphonso Bascos,the drafting attorney, claims that Davies seemed lucid on the day he signed thepower-of-attorney documents.  Bascos, whohas not been charged with any crime, claims he was just following his client’sinstructions.

See Jason Meisner,Nursing Assistant Charged With Taking$350K From Client’s Estate, Chicago Tribune, Apr. 6, 2013.