Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Friday that his office has charged Laci Marie Silgjord with financially exploiting a vulnerable adult.
According to a statement from Ellison, Laci Silgjord met the 78-year-old woman when she was a member of the Cloquet police force and ultimately tried to represent herself on behalf of the victim. She was claiming to be the woman's court-appointed guardian.
The woman died in 2020 with no surviving children and had no will, and Silgjord filed several claims from her estate. The claims were denied. Silgjord left the Cloquet police department last year.
Silgjord met the now-deceased 78-year-old victim through her employment as a then-Cloquet police officer. Four months after meeting the victim, Silgjord represented herself to a bank as the victim’s fiduciary, despite no legal authority for this role, and gained access to the victim’s bank accounts. After knowing the victim for approximately five months before the victim passed away, Silgjord attempted to inherit the victim’s entire estate, despite the victim having surviving family.
They have charged her by criminal complaint in Carlton County District Court with one count of felony financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, one count of gross misdemeanor financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and one count of felony attempted theft by swindle.
The three-count criminal complaint alleges that Silgjord first met the victim in May 2020 when Silgjord responded to the victim’s residence for a call regarding a stolen purse. By January 2021, Silgjord had attempted to obtain the victim’s entire remaining estate despite the victim having surviving family and no written estate plan awarding anything to Silgjord. This was despite a Cloquet Police Department policy that in order to “avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest members of this department shall refrain from developing or maintaining personal or financial relationships with victims, witnesses or other individuals during the course of, or as a direct result of, any official contact.”
Silgjord never notified the victim’s estranged husband and next of kin about the victim’s death according to information provided by the Attorney General's office.
Related
