SCHEMING RELATIVE LEAVES ELDERLY COUPLE DESTITUTE

Hi, my name is Lisa Newmark-Miller and I am the elder daughter of Enid and Stanley Newmark. As many of you know my parents have always been generous and trusting people and have been members of the community for 50 years. It is because of their trusting nature that they are in desperate need of assistance. I apologize in advance for the length of this “recounting, of events” but I feel it’s important the whole story be told.

In early 2020 their grandson convinced my parents to execute new advanced directives placing as the attorney in fact. It is not known if the documents were properly witnessed or notarized, as that information has only come to my attention in the past week. Once becoming the POA took, with their permission, their retirement accounts to “invest” having told them they would continue to have complete access to their funds, but in fact they haven’t had access since. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the story. In the summer of 2021, insisted that my parents sell their Largo home for a fair amount of financial return, which immediately took possession of to “invest”. My parents have not seen the money since, and refuses to provide any information about where it went. After the sale of the house they moved into Pinecrest on 8th Avenue where they had a nice 2-bedroom apartment. They were happy there, made new friends, participated in activities, etc. and were living near all of their old friends. My mother was tasked with paying the rent but could only do so if deposited money in their account. At this point I learned that my parents no longer had access to their Social Security income or retirement funds, and approximately 2-3 months after moving in they were no longer able to pay their rent. As they are trusting people, they continued to believe their grandson who told them he was investing their money appropriately, yet they only had access to money through him. One excuse after another was given when they asked for money. They then received a letter for nonpayment of rent, and prior to being evicted, on 07/01/2022 they were, without any choice, moved to Aston Gardens in Tampa, far away from their friends. There the rent and fees were paid by check, and all checks were returned due to insufficient funds. My mother wrote checks through September and finally stopped submitting payments altogether as she had no access to their money. In November eviction proceedings were started but delayed, and they were finally forced out on 04/19/2023. On December 27, 2022, the car my mother had been driving was repossessed, and despite the almost daily promises from their grandson that a car was being delivered, she has not had a car since then.

Once evicted on 04/19/2023 a mover came to the apartment to move their belongings to home in Seminole that is in foreclosure for failing to pay the mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc. Although the movers had been arranged, in order for the movers to release the items on the moving truck they needed to be paid, their grandson was “unavailable” and they had no funds or even a credit card to pay for the delivery, so they called me and I put it on my credit card. Under threats from their grandson, they remained in the home with no transportation or money to get food or go to appointments unless their grandson provided it. I have seen where mother would send texts to their grandson begging for money to buy food, for a car to drive and for the credit card bills to be paid so she could at least use it to purchase necessities. The money never came.

On 05/09/2023 my mother texted me (at this point they had been prohibited by their grandson to contact me) to let me know that they planned to end their lives. I contacted law enforcement and both victims were placed under a Baker Act, and both remain in the hospital at this time because they have no home to go to and no funds to secure other housing.

Over the course of 3+ years their grandson has opened numerous credit cards in one or both of their names, maxed them out and then hasn’t paid the bills. Chase Bank sued my father on two occasions for 2 credit cards in his name that had been used by solely by their grandson (@ $18,000 each) and to date neither judgement has been paid. has put vehicles, utilities, other loans and accounts in my parents’ names for his own personal use, and nothing gained has ever been used to provide for my parents. continues to access my parents’ computers and tablets changing passwords and canceling services (phones most recently) so they have access to absolutely nothing. Currently the only income or asset they have is what they receive from Social Security, and at this time it is unknown if the payment for May has been made and if it is in the account because changed the password. My mother was able to cancel the debit card that has had in his possession and lock the account until she can make other arrangements.

My parents are currently in different hospitals due to the fact that they have nowhere to go and no way to pay to move anywhere.

This is a typical story of abuse, where the victims have been afraid and embarrassed, especially since their abusers have been their own children.

Without any options to get my parents out of their respective hospitals, and into a place they can call home, I am asking humbly, for donations from the community, and I have created this GoFundMe page. Any amount will be so very much appreciated.

I wanted to share this story in its entirety, and if you aren’t able to help, I hope this will at least prevent you from falling victim to this type of abuse and exploitation, or help you recognize the signs if it’s happening to people you love or care about.

Thank you,

Lisa