A Florida man is accused of stealing $138,000 from a woman with mental disabilities and spending $9,000 at a strip club.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, 48-year-old William Tideberg of Holiday convinced 69-year-old Maryanne Andersen, who suffers from a mental disability, to move in with him from out of state. Tideberg stole the money from Andersen before leaving her alone in a house without furniture, police said.
Andersen was living in Connecticut in 2015 when Tideberg met her through the internet. Authorities said he made trips to New England and eventually convinced Andersen to move into his home in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
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Tideberg told Andersen, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was admitted to a Connecticut hospital for psychiatric treatment in 2014, that she was his girlfriend and fiancée while he tried to consolidate her assets into a bank account that he controlled. The Times reported that he called the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America 76 times in an attempt to transfer her savings to his account, but the association refused after hearing Tideberg coach Andersen on what to say, police said.
Authorities said Tideberg was eventually able to transfer money from another of her accounts, withdrawing $134,910 over the counter and another $4,020 from ATMs. He spent $9,237 of the woman’s money at a strip club in Holiday, Florida, police said.
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Authorities arrested Tideberg Monday and charged him with two counts of exploitation of an elderly or disabled person. He remains in the Pinellas County Jail on $50,000 bail.
Read more at Tampa Bay Times.
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