Man who manipulated vulnerable<BR>Hugo woman gets jail, restitution<BR>North Branch resident convicted on charge of financial exploitation

Posted 9/12/01

Man who manipulated vulnerable
Hugo woman gets jail, restitution
North Branch resident convicted on charge of financial exploitation

By Cliff Buchan
News Editor Forest Lake Times

A former St. Francis man who was accused in Washington County District Court of theft by swindle has accepted a plea agreement for financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Robert Alan Milbrandt, 41, of North Branch, will serve 75 days in jail, pay a $200 fine and be on probation for 10 years. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $126,084.17 to the Hugo woman who was the target of Milbrandtís financial gambit, said Christopher Wachtler, assistant county attorney and prosecutor.
Milbrandtís plea agreement was reached in August and he was sentenced by Judge Stephen Muehlberg on Aug. 31. He has 30 days to contest the restitution order as part of the court approved stay of execution, the attorney said.
Authorities in Washington and Anoka counties have been investigating Milbrandt since June of 1999 when a bank official at Firstar Bank in Hugo reported a man attempting to obtain a large loan for an elderly Hugo woman.
The investigation covered incidents dating back to 1998 and involves the exploitation of the woman, 73, who was convinced by Milbrandt to undertake a series of home improvements, take out loans and join Milbrandtís business venture, Wachtler said.
ìHe (Milbrandt) is a con man,î Wachtler said. ìHe was going to do improvements on her home. One thing led to another. He saw an opportunity. It took off from there.î
The lengthy investigation involved painstaking examinations of financial records at the Hugo bank, Norwest/Wells Fargo in Forest Lake, and banks in White Bear Lake and Edina. In all, Wachtler said, authorities uncovered four loans taken out by the woman.
Court records document four loans of $14,000, $25,000, $44,000 and $52,000. The fourth loan was secured by a mortgage on the womanís house, the attorney said.
The investigation also uncovered the womanís name on a number of credit cards issued under the business started by Milbrandt, American Energy Consultants, Inc., St. Francis. The business incorporated on July 8, 1998 and later filed for bankruptcy, according to court records.
At one point during the relationship between the woman and Milbrandt, she was made an office holder in the corporation and issued 50 shares of stock in the company with purported value of $100 per share.
The relationship between Milbrandt and the woman ended in July of 1999 when the womanís sister received a restraining order forbidding Milbrandt from having contact with the woman who lived on retirement and Social Security income of about $2400 a month.
The Washington County Sheriffís Office investigation developed a long list of promised home improvements that were never completed even though funds were expended to cover work, Wachtler said.
Milbrandt told police he had placed the work projects in the hands of a series of subcontractors who did not perform duties as promised.
Subcontractors interviewed by police reported performing some work and receiving some pay, but stopped their jobs when payments were not forthcoming, the criminal complaint says.
Deputies from Washington and Anoka counties executed a search warrant at Robert and Kristine Milbrandtís home in the fall of 1999 seizing financial records used in the case.
The couple has since moved to North Branch. Kristine Milbrandt, 35, who was an officer in the corporation, was not charged in the Washington County investigation.
The original criminal charges against Milbrandt included two felony counts of theft by swindle, one involving funds of more than $35,000. The plea agreement covered a third felony count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Because the womanís ability to make sound money decisions was significantly limited by her cognitive impairment, a psychologist recommended that ìvulnerable adult statusî be considered, the complaint said.
Wachtler said the time consuming investigation was a reflection of the countyís desire to make sure the charge would stick. He described Milbrandt as a ìpredatoryî offender.
ìHe didnít hurt anyone physically, but he preyed on a vulnerable old woman,î he said. ìIn my mind, heís no different than a sexual predator. He took her for all she was worth.î
As part of the plea agreement, Milbrandt will be required to obtain a chemical dependency evaluation and follow recommendations, obtain a psychological evaluation and follow recommendations, cooperate with any transfer of probation, have no contact with the victim, and abstain from all mood altering drugs, including alcohol, and have random testing.