Son, his wife accused of stealing $50,000 from 92-year-old mother

A Hernando County Sheriff’s Office volunteer, along with his wife, faces charges of stealing more than $57,000 from his 92-year-old mother.

Detectives said Larry Miller, and his wife, Lynda, were financially exploiting his mother for at least two years. Larry served as an auxiliary deputy since October 2016 with the sheriff’s office, but has since been fired from the position.

The victim had another son, who had Power of Attorney for her since 1988 and has had his name on her bank accounts, officials say, until he recently noticed funds were missing from her account. 

The son told detectives he discovered his brother, Larry, removed his name to add his own, and was using the account as his own, according to the sheriff’s office. The son also said his mother received a letter from Social Security that she had a new, online account, which confused him since she never used a computer before, according to a media release.

The son contacted Social Security, and learned an attempt had been made to have her Social Security deposited into Larry’s new Region’s Bank account, officials say. 

Detectives said bank documents confirmed Larry withdrew funds from his mother’s account to deposit it into his Region's Bank account. Officials also said Larry intercepted an insurance check, made payable to his mother, in the amount of $12,480.97, which he deposited. 

There were 21 checks written out to Larry or Lynda between February 2015 and July 2017, according to the sheriff’s office. After July, a debit card was issued to make purchases and pay for services, but officials say the victim has never used a debit card on her account, and was not aware one was issued. Payments including Botox treatments for Lynda, they said, and the total amount of purchases with the debit card totaled $3,485.18.

When detectives interviewed the couple, they said the victim suffered from memory loss for about two years, and had been incapacitated since the summer of 2017, according to a media release, and both said she “remembers things for about two seconds.”

The total amount of misappropriated funds was $57,712.11, detectives said. Larry and Lynda were charged with exploitation of the elderly.