A Colorado woman is accused of preying on elderly men she met at grocery stores in an alleged fraud operation that investigators now believe brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Priscilla Johnson, 33, previously pleaded guilty to theft and criminal exploitation of an at-risk elder after admitting to scamming one elderly man out of $40,000. The Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office said she was ordered to repay the money and was given a deferred sentence.
Authorities have since opened a second case against Johnson, alleging the scheme was part of a broader pattern involving several elderly victims and losses approaching $500,000.
Investigators say Johnson allegedly told victims that her fiancé had died and that she was struggling financially with no cash.
Johnson was convicted of defrauding a man she met last summer at a King Soopers grocery store in Centennial, a Denver suburb.
The alleged scam came to the attention of authorities in September, when the son of 90-year-old Emet ‘Allan’ Moran raised the alarm.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Daily Mail, she introduced herself to Moran as Elizabeth Johnson and said she had recently fallen on difficult times.
Johnson allegedly claimed that her car had been broken into and that thieves took $6,000 worth of makeup artist equipment she used for work.
Priscilla Johnson, 33, pleaded guilty to theft and criminal exploitation of an at-risk elder after scamming an elderly man out of $40,000. She now faces additional charges after investigators uncovered evidence suggesting the scheme was carried out multiple times.
Richard Wadleigh told CBS News that he also met Johnson at a grocery store, where she allegedly shared a similar story of hardship.
A week later, Johnson said she needed $38,000 because she had cancer and needed a kidney transplant.
Moran told police that he withdrew $34,000 in cash. He said he believed they were in love, and investigators showed messages in which the two said they loved one another.
He then told his son about the situation, and his son advised him to stop speaking with Johnson and giving her money.
‘She had definitely worked him a lot of different ways to try and make him feel very comfortable,’ the victim’s son told CBS News. ‘She made him feel like he was maybe even a romantic involvement.’
He added that Johnson’s request for cash to pay her doctor was what tipped off his suspicions.
‘My wife and I both looked at each other and we realized that there was something going on,’ he added. ‘Clearly this was a pattern.’
Investigators agreed that Johnson was likely a scam artist and arrested her once again this year on new charges, alleging that multiple elderly men experienced similar treatment.
She has been charged with two counts of crimes against at-risk individuals, theft and forgery.
While investigating Moran’s case, Officer Penny McLean found evidence on Johnson’s phone that she allegedly scammed at least two other individuals, according to a second criminal complaint.
Two men told police that Johnson had approached them at the King Soopers grocery store last summer
Richard Wadleigh, 80, told police he met Johnson in the King Soopers parking lot. She allegedly said she needed a friend and later called him to ask to meet for breakfast.
She allegedly told Wadleigh that she left Arizona with her two children after her fiancé was killed in an automobile accident.
Wadleigh allegedly gave Johnson $8,000 after she said her phone and makeup kit were stolen from her sister’s vehicle and the two needed it for their cosmetology business.
‘Everything she told me was a lie,’ Wadleigh told CBS.
Mike Hansen, 61, told police that Johnson allegedly posed as another woman asking him to invest in her gold business.
He told police he invested $100 and made a profit, then gave an additional payment of $100,000. Hansen said he continued to invest until he was out $450,000, according to the complaint.
The other two men police believed were involved in the scam denied having any contact with Johnson.
The second criminal case against Johnson is still pending. She has not entered a plea to the new charges, and her attorney’s information was not immediately available. Her next hearing is scheduled for November 3.