Batavia woman charged with financial exploitation of elderly family member

A Batavia woman faces felony charges of financial exploitation of an elderly person of more than $50,000 from a family member and forgery, according to police and court records.

Ginger C. Jackman, 43, of the 300 block of South Batavia Avenue, Batavia, was charged Oct. 29 with two counts of felony financial exploitation as a person of trust for an elderly person older than 70 for more than $15,000 and more than $50,000, which occurred from Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 23, 2023, according to the charging documents.

Jackman also was charged with three counts of felony forgery of three checks during the same time period for $288.85, $42.00 and $40.90, according to the charging documents.

Police picked up Jackman on Dec. 12. She was released from custody and is to appear in court Jan. 31, records show.

Jackman’s attorney did not respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.

According to a police report released following a Freedom of Information Act request, the administrator of Michaelsen Health Center, a nursing home which is part of Covenant Living at the Holmstad in Batavia, told police that a resident was the possible victim of elderly financial exploitation.

“It was learned that approximately $100,000 dollars had gone missing or had been transferred out of [the resident’s] Chase checking/saving account ... since 2020,” according to the police report. “It appeared that there were clear ties between [the resident’s] account and other separate accounts in Ginger’s name where money had been moved.”

Jackman told police the Holmstad’s costs were responsible for the family member’s dwindling accounts, but the family member told police she did not realize more money was going out than was coming in – and that money was missing, according to the report.

The money transferred from the family member’s account included $24,000 in July 2020 to pay off Jackman’s student loans, according to the police report.

A search warrant for Zelle, a payment service that allows users to send and receive money from their bank accounts, turned up records for $21,628 transferred from the family member’s account to Jackman’s account, from Sept. 29, 2020, to March 1, 2023, according to the report.

Some $300 of those costs were associated with finding a new home for the family member’s dog, according to the report.

JP Morgan Chase Bank in Batavia showed an internal transfer of $29,017.46 from the family member’s account to Jackman’s, according to the report.

The bank also provided a spreadsheet showing $45,321.55 in transfers from the family member’s account to Jackman’s from July 6, 2020, to Feb. 1, 2023, according to the report.

The report also states Jackman made a charge at UpRise Tattoos in Warrenville for piercings, which Jackman said it was a gift but the family member kept forgetting. The report did not state how much was spent or what was pierced and police officials would not answer further questions that were not included in the report.

Jackman told police she had power of attorney over the family member until they became estranged, according to the report.

The most serious charges Jackman faces are financial exploitation of the elderly, Class 1 felonies punishable by four to 15 years in prison and fines up to $25,000 on each count, or at the judge’s discretion, up to 48 months of probation.