Couple arrested for stealing from elderly relative

Couple arrested for stealing from elderly relative

MACCLENNY, FL - A Baker County couple who’s case first made headlines two years ago, was formally charged with Grand Theft and Exploitation of the Elderly, after Baker County Sheriff’s deputies issued warrants to their home on Thursday of last week. Their arrests could bring justice to a 73-year-old victim lured into signing away hundreds of thousands in assets.

Jimmy Gray

Former Community Action Agency Director, Francis Claudette Gray, 44, and her husband Jimmy Gray, 73 were investigated after the two went on a shopping spree days after they convinced their elderly aunt to sign over her late husband's savings back in May of 2006.

The case was highly publicized back in 2006 in the local newspaper, The Baker County Press, although no charges were filed at that time. Claudette was fired from her appointed position as director. Jimmy Gray was known throughout the community for his work with the Salvation Army during Christmas season.

Claudette Gray

At the time, the elderly aunt was still trying to recover from her late husband's death the year before, and she took to alcohol to cope. On May 26, 2006, her neighbors found her inside her home, malnourished and on the floor suffering from a broken arm. She was taken to Baptist Hospital and treated for her injuries.

German born, the aunt only had no close family in the states. Her parents, victims of the Holocaust camps, were killed during the war. She had moved to America with her late husband after the end of WWII, but managed to bring special family heirlooms from Germany in remembrance of her parents.

The couple bought a house in Northwest Jacksonville, and she lived there for nearly 56 years, proudly displaying her parent's china plates.

Just two days after her accident, she took up residence at Macclenny Nursing and Rehab. It was not until then that the Gray's started to play a role in the woman's life. At first, the couple asked nursing home employees to notarize a power of attorney. They declined stating the aunt was not in a good mental state. On May 28, 2006, the Gray's allegedly coerced the aunt to sign a power of attorney by a private notary.

To convince her, the Gray's told her "If you don't sign the power of attorney, the state will take everything else." They also told her that the state condemned her house and they could not go on the property because they may be arrested.

That's when investigators say the couple started cheating her right out of her house and her assets. A police report from 2006 details in chronological order the Gray’s spending habits.

• On May 31, 2006, Jimmy Gray withdrew $20,000 from a Wachovia and removed $20,000 from her savings account and $25,000 from her checking. On that same day, Gray removed three CD's for $33,000, incurring a substantial penalty for cashing them in before their maturity date. Later that day, the Gray's bought a new red Ford SUV.
   
• The next day $109,000 was taken from a Vystar checking and savings account, as well as two CD's. Another Ford SUV was purchased, but this time the color was blue.
   
• On June 6, 2007 nearly $5,000 dollars was taken from a savings account and $12,0000 dollar check was written to Jimmy Gray. Later that day, the couple purchased a Ford Mustang convertible.
   
• The next day Jimmy Gray closed an account at Wachovia Bank and withdrew $15,000.
   
• Seven days later, he wrote a check to himself for $700.
   
• On June 23, 2006 another check was written for $900.
   
• The next day, the couple sold the aunt's house for $93,000.
   
• On July 1, 2006, the couple bought a boat and trailer.
   
• Five days later, the couple purchases $10,000 in real estate.

All the time the couple had been building a house next to their son, on Lissie Court in Macclenny.

In less than a one month period, police say the couple had taken over $180,000 in bank account funds, sold the aunt’s house for nearly $100,000, and taken $35,000 from a safe box inside the aunt's home. Her Chevrolet Cavalier was also sold for an unknown amount, as well as all her belongings, including her parent’s precious china.

When the victim’s health improved, she asked the nursing home staff about the power of attorney. Investigators were alerted to the incident and froze the Gray's bank accounts.

The case was handled for some time in civil court, until the Gray's filed bankruptcy and the case was dismissed.

The State Attorney's Office finally decided to file charges and warrants were signed on September 4, 2008 The couple was booked into the Baker County Detention Center and posted bond at $50,000.

And the victim? She has physically recovered, but is now renting a house on the same street of her former home. She is living off her social security and her husband's military pension.