PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City officials say abuse of older people, particularly in the form of scamming, is increasing at a rapid rate in the commonwealth.
On Tuesday, the District Attorney’s office, as well as their Elder Justice Unit (EJU) announced charges against three people for financially exploiting and defrauding older people in Philadelphia.
Of the charged are Michael Williams and his significant other Summer Rifenburg, as well as Josh Leyland.
Williams, 55, is facing more than a dozen charges including neglect of a care dependent person, theft by deception, burglary, conspiracy, tampering with evidence, forgery, and conspiring with Rifenburg, 44, to steal an older person’s home who was suffering from dementia. Rifenburg is facing similar charges.
"Elderly victims have special problems that younger victims don't have because as people age, they rely on others to assist them in day-to-day matters,” said DA First Assistant Temin.
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The DA says Williams fraudulently opened an estate in the name of the victim's dead father and transferred the house title by acting as the estate's executor.
Williams and Rifenburg were arrested on June 29. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 31.
Leyland, 26, is charged with home improvement fraud, theft by deception, conspiracy, and related offenses for his role in conning a 77-year-old man of $140,000 in 2019.
They say Leyland is a construction worker and convinced the man his home needed expensive repairs, demanding payments up front in the form of cashier’s checks.
The workers Leyland alleged would fix things up completed almost none of the repairs, but Leyland still used his passport to cash the checks then fled to the United Kingdom.
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He was eventually caught, brought back to the United States and arrested. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 25.
Sarina Issenberg, coordinator of the Philadelphia Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team, reported that financial scams impact one in 10 older Americans, costing a little more than $36.5 billion per year.
"Financial exploitation of seniors is a particularly insidious form of elder abuse because the victims are quite often some of our most vulnerable neighbors," said District Attorney Larry Krasner.
If you feel you or a loved one is at risk of getting scammed or exploited, contact the Philadelphia Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team hotline at 215-686-5710.
Editor’s update, Dec. 28, 2023:
Josh Leyland pleaded guilty on Dec. 21, 2023, to a single charge of receiving advanced payment for services and failing to perform. He was sentenced to six to 12 months behind bars, with nine years of probation. Leyland was also sentenced to pay $150,000 in restitution to the victim, in monthly installments of $1,000.
Editor’s update, April 8, 2025:
Michael Williams was supposed to go to trial in February 2025 but instead pleaded guilty to theft by deception, conspiracy, financial exploitation of an older adult or care-dependent person, and related offenses. As part of the deal, he will serve up to a year behind bars with time served, then one year of reporting probation, plus an additional six years.