Man charged by federal authorities for allegedly taking $1 million from elderly friend

U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minn. (Google Maps).

An individual from Minnesota has been charged with serious federal offenses including wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering for reportedly persuading his elderly neighbor, who was suffering from worsening dementia, to legally adopt him.

Joseph Robinson, aged 44, made an appearance in a federal court in Minneapolis on December 19 to address the accusations made against him, which he refuted. The charges were detailed in a nine-page indictment that highlighted numerous financial dealings between Robinson and the elderly individual, an 83-year-old known as “Edward S.” in legal documents. Allegedly, Robinson managed to obtain slightly more than $1 million from Edward S., with investigators from the Hennepin County Adult Protection Agency suspecting the actual amount could be higher.

As per the federal indictment, Robinson and Edward S. had known each other since childhood as neighbors. They reconnected in 2018 when Robinson was an adult and offered to assist Edward S. with home repairs. By 2021, three years following Edward S.’s diagnosis with a “mild neurocognitive disorder,” Robinson had gone through a legal adoption process to become Edward S.’s official adoptive son, even addressing Edward S. as his “father” in court hearings.

The elderly man, who is a retired accountant and widower with one living sibling in Oregon, only became more ill as time went on. By 2023, Edward S. was diagnosed with “full-blown dementia.” All the while, he paid Robinson thousands of dollars for various home renovations.

According to the indictment, Robinson took advantage of the man’s increasingly vulnerable state and “intentionally devise[d] and execute[d] a scheme and artifice to defraud” Edward S. Part of that scheme included allegedly convincing the man to adopt him as his legal son after getting him to designate Robinson his attorney-in-fact.

When Edward S.’s mother died in 2022, leaving her elderly children inheritance money, Robinson allegedly asked his “father” to give him a $138,000 check. (Robinson was only a “minor beneficiary” in Edward S.’s mother’s will.) The indictment stated that Robinson spent most of the money he received from Edward S. on “personal expenses.”

By 2023, when Edward S.’s cognitive decline had progressed significantly, Robinson allegedly convinced him that he was no longer well enough to maintain his collection of European cars. Edward S. transferred the titles of his cars to Robinson, who began to sell them. The title of Edward S.’s now-renovated home was also turned over to Robinson. The same year, Robinson opened up a joint checking account in his and Edward S.’s names and, according to the indictment, allegedly “defrauded” Edward S. out of his own retirement funds.

Hennepin County Adult Protection Services started investigating Robinson in January 2023, and Robinson allegedly told Edward S. to “stop cooperating” with them. By October 2023, a petition for emergency guardianship was filed, taking those rights away from Robinson and freezing Edward S.’s assets.

The indictment stated that the estimated total Robinson allegedly stole from Edward S. amounted to $1,073,000. Hennepin County Adult Protection Services believes that he allegedly stole an additional $1.2 million.

A reporter from KARE, a local NBC affiliate, was in the courtroom for Robinson’s appearance. As the allegations against Robinson were read in court, other defendants present “rolled their eyes and shook their heads at Robinson,” including one alleged gang member facing RICO charges.

In a phone interview, Robinson told KARE, “None of that stuff is true.”

Robinson turned himself in to authorities but was not taken into custody.

Man charged by federal authorities for allegedly taking $1 million from elderly friend

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