FRANKLIN (AP) — A Tennessee exterminator who posed as the relative of an 85-year-old widow with dementia has been charged with defrauding the woman out of nearly $1.7 million, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.
Karl Hampton, 63, and his wife, Deborah Hampton, 59, were arrested at their Franklin home on federal fraud and money laundering charges, according to a statement from Mary Jane Stewart, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
The complaint alleged Karl Hampton met the 85-year-old victim while he was working as an exterminator for a pest control company where he provided services for her home from 2016-2019.
Prosecutors accused Karl Hampton of deceiving the woman, who was suffering from cognitive decline, into believing that he was a relative and that he would take care of her and her finances.
He was able to convince her to sign over her power of attorney and name him in a trust and in her will, eventually draining her bank accounts, taking out a $500,000 line of credit in her name and accumulating large charges on her credit cards, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Prosecutors said he later quit his job and continued to steal the funds to make purchases, including a luxury Lexus SUV and a 4.3-karat diamond ring with his wife.
During the course of the scheme, Karl Hampton took more than $1.2 million from the woman's accounts and "frequently purchased luxury items and often spent between $1,000 and $1,500 per day on lottery tickets," the Justice Department statement said.
The documents Karl Hampton fraudulently signed named his wife as the successor agent, officials said.
If convicted, Karl Hampton faces up to 20 years in prison and Deborah Hampton faces up to 10 years.