A former Knox County Sheriff’s deputy sergeant and his wife were indicted by a county grand jury on felony charges in an elder abuse case, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said on Sept. 28.
Gambier residents Daniel and Elisabeth Bobo were indicted on one count each of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and complicity to theft, both first-degree felonies; two counts of misuse of a credit card, a second-degree felony; and three counts of telecommunications fraud, a third-degree felony, a release from Yost’s office said.
“This couple thought they could get away with taking advantage of a woman who lost her husband, was struggling with dementia and welcomed their help,” Yost said. “They betrayed her trust and took care of themselves instead – with her money.”
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office employed Daniel Bobo during the alleged criminal activity. He resigned effective Sept. 3, 2021.
He befriended Kay and Richard Hoppe and helped them move into a Mount Vernon nursing home. After Richard Hoppe died in 2018, the attorney general’s office said, he allegedly persuaded Kay Hoppe to grant him power of attorney. She had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Before her death on Aug. 3, 2020, at age 78, Bobo had been named as the executor of her estate.
The release said that from Dec. 17, 2017, through Nov. 30, 2020, the Bobos are believed to have used more than $450,000 of Hoppe’s money for their personal expenses.
The attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) conducted the investigation. The Special Prosecutions Section of Yost’s office will prosecute it.
The Elder Justice Unit – a collaborative effort of the attorney general’s Crime Victim Services, Consumer Protection, Health Care Fraud and Social Prosecutions sections and BCI – works to educate Ohioans about the warning signs and risks of financial exploitation. Older adults, especially, are vulnerable to such crime. Yost’s office produced a quick reference guide for older adults to avoid exploitation.
