Jury convicts financial planner of stealing over $100,000 from elderly Lower Salford woman

NORRISTOWN — A jury convicted a former New Hanover Township man of stealing more than $100,000 in life savings from an 84-year-old Lower Salford Township woman while he served as the woman’s financial planner.

David Walter Dempsey, 36, formerly of the 2400 block of Magnolia Drive in New Hanover, was convicted in Montgomery County Court of charges of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and deceptive business practices in connection with incidents that occurred between October 2022 and July 2023.

Dempsey, the chief executive officer of Elder Care Direction and who also did business as Uncommon Perspective Group, showed no visible emotion as the verdict was announced.

The jury deliberated about 2½ hours before reaching a verdict after a three-day trial.

Judge Thomas M. DelRicci, who presided over the trial, deferred sentencing until later this year so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Dempsey, who will undergo drug, alcohol and mental health evaluations.

The judge allowed Dempsey to remain free on $10,000 unsecured bail with a condition that Dempsey surrender his passport to police.

Dempsey, who most recently listed an address along South Goddard Boulevard in King of Prussia, potentially faces prison time on the charges, including a one-year mandatory sentence on one of the theft charges, permitted by state law because the victim was more than 60 years old.

Assistant District Attorney Gwendolyn Kull vowed to seek a prison term against Dempsey.

“The guilty verdict in this case was just and well deserved for what this defendant did, and that was stealing over $100,000 from an 84-year-old woman who was vulnerable and who needed that money,” Kull said after the trial.

“(The victim) and her husband saved their entire lives to be able to support themselves once old age prevented them from being able to work and earn any longer. They trusted David Dempsey to manage their funds so that they could continue to live and support themselves and what happened here is that David not only broke that trust but he completely violated this elderly woman and took everything she had and left her with nothing. That is really why this case is so appalling,” Kull added.

The woman’s husband died in August 2021, according to testimony.

Prosecutors alleged Dempsey used the woman’s funds for his personal expenses, including purchasing expensive Christmas gifts, a trip to Italy, a Rolex watch, luxury cars and multiple $8,000 a week payments in alimony as part of a divorce settlement.

With the charges, prosecutors argued the victim, in September 2020, entered into a contract with Dempsey to manage her financial accounts totaling $284,000, with interest. Under the agreement, Dempsey was to pay the victim a monthly income of $4,400 to cover her expenses beginning in October 2020.

While Dempsey initially made monthly payments, by October 2022, the payments became inconsistent and the victim decided to end her business with Dempsey “as she no longer trusted him with her finances” and she requested he return the $180,000 balance, according to a criminal complaint filed by Lower Salford Police Officer Kathleen Byrne.

During the trial, Kull argued Dempsey gave the victim and her daughter “the runaround,” promising to return the money on several occasions but didn’t.

Dempsey made various excuses and withheld the victim’s money by creating false impressions, including claiming he was working with the bank but that the bank made mistakes and was to blame for the delays in returning the money, according to testimony.

Dempsey also claimed a wire transfer was initiated on Feb. 1, 2023, but the investigation showed there were no wire transfers or attempted wire transfers and the victim never received her money. Dempsey’s reasons consisted of claims that he was waiting to hear back from the bank regarding the transfer and stating that he was calling the bank daily to resolve the issue, Byrne wrote in the arrest affidavit.

“He repeatedly lied. He used the money to pay his personal expenses. He was dealing with that money as his own. That’s the key. That’s the fraud. He continued to spend money and didn’t pay her,” Kull argued to the jury during her closing statement. “This wasn’t the bank’s problem. This was him.”

But defense lawyer James Tone argued Dempsey’s conduct, the mismanagement of his business, was not criminal conduct.

“This is a civil case. That’s where it should be litigated,” Tone argued to the jury during his closing statement. “My client’s business was failing, was sinking. It’s a simple breach of contract.”

Tone suggested prosecutors were playing on the emotions of jurors, injecting sympathy for the victim into the case, to convince them that Dempsey’s behavior amounted to criminal conduct. Tone pointed out that the victim has filed a civil suit against Dempsey and he argued Dempsey should not be held criminally liable for what is a civil matter.

“Companies fail. That’s what this is,” said Tone, arguing Dempsey “was under water,” and that by the time the victim requested the return of her money, Dempsey didn’t have it. “It doesn’t mean it’s fraud.”

During the trial, the victim, now 86, recalled sending multiple messages to Dempsey over several months requesting the return of her funds. The woman testified at one point she was concerned she would not have enough money to pay her monthly bills.

“HELP! HELP! HELP! I’m more than just upset. I’m a nervous wreck,” the victim wrote in one December 2022 email to Dempsey.

During February 2023 messages, the woman wrote to Dempsey, “PLEASE where is my $180,000 plus?” and “Still waiting. Will I get it before I die?”

The victim’s daughter, who also sent numerous messages to Dempsey requesting the return of her mother’s funds, testified he either didn’t respond to messages or gave excuses for the delays.

“My mom is going to have a stroke over this, Dave,” the victim’s daughter recalled desperately writing in one message she sent to Dempsey.

The investigation began in February 2023 when the victim reported the financial theft to the Lower Salford police. When police contacted Dempsey, he allegedly stated he was working on returning the victim’s money and that a fund transfer was initiated on Feb. 1. However, the victim never received her money, Byrne alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Byrne testified during the trial that the victim received none of her $4,400 monthly payments for living expenses between April and July 2023, which left her at a total loss of $17,600 in monthly income.

“Because of Dempsey’s failure to make the payments to (the victim), as of June 2, 2023, (the victim) only had $47 left in her checking account, which led her to have to take money out of her brokerage account to afford her daily living expenses,” Byrne alleged in the criminal complaint.

Kull called Byrne’s investigative work outstanding.

“Economic crimes are always a challenging prosecution because they are so paperwork intensive. You have to spend hours upon hours reviewing bank records to determine where the money came from and then where it went,” Kull explained.

“So, I really want to commend investigating officer Kate Byrne because her investigation in this case brought this guilty verdict. The thoroughness and her preparation and her review of the records in this case is what proved that the crime occurred,” Kull added.