Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
Fugitive Watch: Li Ching Liu Robs Ailing Elderly Woman of $4 Million And Flees
Monday, August 23, 2010 at 7:01 am
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Li Ching Liu was hired by a 74-year old Long Beach woman when she suffered a stroke in her bathroom and wasn't found for three days. The woman, who had never married or had any children, but had lived an independent, full life and built a sizable personal fortune through real estate, was severely affected physically by the stroke. Though her mind remained sharp, because of her physical maladies she required the supervision of a 24-hour nurse. She couldn't have done much worse than Liu.
The woman was previously a very social person, but the 54-year-old Liu soon began to cut her patient off from her friends and family, refusing to let them into the house or even answer the phone. Liu would drag the woman along on trips to Las Vegas and around the country, controlling her with a combination of abuse and neglect.
She managed the woman's bank accounts, laundering $4 million through 63 different accounts at six different banks. Liu forced the woman to sell a profitable strip mall and used the money to buy herself a Porsche SUV, a house for herself and her boyfriend -- 58-year old Abolfath Okhovat -- large amounts of jewelry, and a new BMW and USC tuition for her 29-year old son, Yun Shih.
The embezzlement and abuse continued from 2003 to 2008, until a minor health problem landed the woman in the hospital and she was able to make contact with her relatives. Okhovat and Shih were arrested and convicted of financial elder abuse in 2009, but Liu had been on the lam for two years before turning herself in on Tuesday.
The lesson here is never to leave a relative in the hands of a medical professional you don't know without getting your own copy of the house keys.
Read last Monday's Fugitive Watch: Alex Garcia Wasn't Clean, So He Went To A Laundry.
Tags: California, Fugitive Watch
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