A Blountstown man has been charged with exploitation of the elderly after allegedly taking advantage of an 88-year-old woman.
Allen Gregory McCullough, 60, was arrested Friday in the cased in the Calhoun County Jail at press time.
According to the Blountstown Police Department, a woman contacted authorities May 31 alleging McCullough had been cashing checks since March for work on her elderly aunt’s home, but she suspected fraud as she could not tell any work had been performed.
Ofc. Ellis investigated and learned McCullough was supposed to have performed some work in the kitchen of the woman’s home, but there was no evidence of any work taking place. In addition, McCullough reportedly did some work in the bathroom and charged the woman $1000 for the labor. The work was found to be poorly done. The niece told authorities she didn’t recall even asking McCullough to do the work in the first place, but felt obligated to pay when he approached her about payment. McCullough was also paid $800 for cleaning out a deep freezer and received $200 with no clear accounting of the purpose for that payment.
Materials purchased from a local hardware store totalled $175 with those items pair for with cash provided by the woman’s niece.
McCullough and his attorney came to the BPD to answer questions about the allegations and met with Ofc. Ellis and Inv. Tim Partridge. McCullough stated he never asked the niece for any money, but she just gave him $800. After doing work on the bathroom, he said he told her she owed him $1200, but to give $200 of that to the church. McCullough claimed the work he performed was worth the $2000 he was paid.
Following further investigation, McCullough was charged.
