Oct 3, 2008 7:49 pm US/Pacific
San Jose Man Pleads Guilty To Scamming Seniors
SAN JOSE (BCN) ―
A 55-year-old San Jose man pleaded guilty to multiple charges of elder theft this week in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Albert Acuna approached at least 10 elderly victims in their homes and demanded payment for services he was not asked to do, according to the district attorney's office.
In one case, Acuna knocked on the window of a victim's home and told her he had cleaned the gutters at her residence. The victim told police she just wanted Acuna to leave so she wrote him a check. He returned again the next day and requested money for doing yard work.
Santa Clara police discovered Acuna had done the same thing to another elderly victim by partially cleaning the gutters of her home, then demanding more money than what was originally agreed upon.
He returned the next day and asked for more money after falsely claiming that he washed the windows at her home.
One victim alone paid him more than $70,000 over a period of several years for work that was never completed, according to the district attorney's office.
Acuna was charged with 13 counts and is facing 10 years in prison.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
