Advertisement

Seminole man accused of stealing $483,000 from elderly mother's trust

 
Published Oct. 23, 2015

SEMINOLE — Family members watched with suspicion as an unemployed Richard A. Kess lived a lifestyle beyond his means, deputies say.

Kess's 95-year-old mother Nancy had named him the sole trustee of her trust in 2011 after health problems sent her to an assisted living facility. When family members would ask Richard Kess about her assets, he was uncooperative and unable to account for large sums of money, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

On Thursday, deputies arrested Kess, accusing him of stealing nearly $484,000 from his mother's trust. Investigators say Kess, 65, of Seminole, was draining his mother's accounts at a rate of roughly $30,000 a month and using it at strip clubs and sports bars, and splurging on airline tickets and tattoos.

The Sheriff's Office launched an investigation after family members contacted detectives in August 2013. Investigators discovered records that showed Richard Kess was spending large amounts of money that wasn't for his mother's care.

Shortly after Nancy Kess, of Clearwater, passed away in May 2014, detectives discovered that changes were made to her power of attorney documents. They estimate that between October 2011 and August 2013, he spent a total of $483,682.54 of his mother's trust for himself.

Richard Kess has previously been arrested in Florida on charges of driving under the influence and cocaine possession, records show. The disposition of those charges could not be determined Friday evening.

He was charged with exploitation of the elderly and was being held Friday in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.