A Connecticut woman was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing money from her husband for over 20 years by convincing him he had Alzheimer’s disease.
When Donna Marino’s 73-year-old husband wanted to go to the bank, she would allegedly convince him it was a bad idea by telling him he had made a scene the last time he went. This prevented him from seeing the lower balance in their bank accounts, The Washington Post reported.
Marino then allegedly cashed in her husband’s pension checks, Social Security checks and workers’ compensation payments, The Post reported.
JUST IN: East Haven police have arrested a woman who they say convinced her husband he had Alzheimer’s Disease to steal $600,000 from him https://t.co/E2m8HFyfuk
— WTNH News 8 (@WTNH) October 28, 2021
Police reportedly estimated that she took $600,000 from her husband, who told authorities he believed she began stealing his money in 1999.
The East Haven Police Department investigators arrested Marino on Wednesday, but she was released from jail after promising to appear in court Nov. 29. She was charged with first-degree larceny and third-degree forgery, The Post reported.
The victim’s daughter first reported the alleged fraud in March 2019 after she found documents at her father’s home for credit cards he was unaware of, according to The Post.
Investigators found that the husband’s pension checks were deposited into the bank account of Marino’s mother. When they interviewed Marino in January 2021, she admitted to signing and depositing her husband’s checks for 13 years, The Post reported.
Marino also admitted to stealing an almost $28,000 workers’ compensation settlement and several of his silver coins without his knowledge. She claimed that she was able to get away with the alleged theft by convincing her husband he had dementia, according to The Post. (RELATED: ‘There Wasn’t A Dry Eye’: Man With Alzheimer’s Proposes To His Wife After Forgetting They Were Already Married)
Marino reportedly claimed that she forged documents to gain power of attorney for her husband and had a friend notarize the forms.
Her husband filed for divorce and moved to Florida, according to The Post.