Worland man charged with 15 counts of theft

WORLAND – A Worland man was bound over to Fifth Judicial District Court on 15 counts of theft, along with charges related to exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

The charges that have been filed against Randall Kent Schneider, born in 1963, are as follows: felony charges of one count of intentional exploitation of a vulnerable adult, intentional neglect of a vulnerable adult and nine counts of theft over $1,000. He has also been charged with misdemeanors of reckless exploitation of a vulnerable adult, reckless neglect of a vulnerable adult and six counts of theft under $1,000.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Investigator Kent Lombard was informed in July 2018 by Rachel E. Wade, an employee of the Wyoming Retirement Center (WRC) in Basin, that one of the residents in the facility had been the victim of financial exploitation.

This investigation was coordinated by Lombard and Special Agent Brett A. Kniss.

According to the affidavit, the victim, whose name was redacted in the court records, receives Medicaid benefits and “is required to pay a patient contribution monthly which comes to the full amount of her Medicaid minus $50 a month which is to be used to pay for necessities.”

According to the affidavit, Schneider was placed in charge of the victim’s finances as her representative payee after she was placed into the WRC in Basin on Sept. 18, 2017, after she had fractured her femur a month prior.

According to the Social Security Administration’s website, a representative payee is “someone who manages the patient’s money to make sure the patient’s needs are met. The payee has a strong and continuing interest in the patient’s wellbeing and is usually a family member or close friend.”

According to the affidavit, Schneider was informed by representatives from the WRC that he owed the institution $9,728.30 in May of 2018 for services provided to the victim, and Schneider had received and signed for the certified letter on June 2, 2018.

According to the affidavit, in separate interviews conducted by Investigator Lombard with the Schneider and the victim, they both stated that Schneider was informed by the victim to not pay the WRC in hopes that she would be kicked out of the facility if she did not make the payments. Schneider allegedly agreed that he knew the money was supposed to go towards the victim’s care and that he had not spent it as directed.

According to the affidavit, as of November 2018 the amount owed on the victim’s nursing home care was $15,248.30 and Kniss obtained a search warrant for ANB Bank to look into the joint checking account belonging to the victim and Randall Schneider. The records confirmed that only one check in the amount of $1,224 was paid to the WRC.

According to the ANB Bank records, after the victim was placed in the WRC, Schneider allegedly began to write large checks for cash from the account to himself bearing his signature, along with a significant increase in electronic debit card transactions throughout the city of Worland.

According to the affidavit, Wyoming Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Auditor Sharon Kuster reviewed the ANB Bank records. According to the audit, between Sept. 18, 2017, and Nov. 30, 2018, the bank account received $14,662 from the Social Security Administration. During this time there was only one other deposit into the account for $300.

During that same time, Schneider allegedly withdrew $7,830 by writing checks for cash from the account, and spent an additional $6,622.90 at various retail locations around Worland, and $850 in charges was on the account for overdrawing the account on five separate occasions.

According to the affidavit, in November 2018, Schneider transferred $400 to himself and made two large purchases at Walmart, leaving the account balance at $12.68. The WRC then submitted an application to have the representative payee changed into its name, and was granted the transfer in December 2018.

If Schneider is convicted of intentional exploitation, he could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a $10,000 fine. If he is convicted of intentional neglect, he could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a $10,000 fine. If he is convicted of reckless exploitation he could face a maximum penalty of one year in prison, and a $1,000 fine. If he is convicted of reckless neglect, he could face a maximum penalty of one year in prison, and a $1,000 fine.

If he is convicted of theft under $1,000, each count carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, and a $750 fine. If he is convicted of theft over $1,000, each count may carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a $10,000 fine.