The Autumn Leaves facility near White Rock Lake is cooperating with investigators and said the actions “do not reflect the culture of our community.”
DALLAS — Police have arrested the former manager of a retirement community near White Rock Lake and charged him with depositing more than $1.8 million into personal accounts from 102 elderly residents and their loved ones.
Diane Dancer was arrested Friday and charged with theft, with bail set at $100,000, according to court records. The arrest came after an investigation into unpaid rent at a facility in northeast Dallas.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Dancer allegedly directed tenants to pay rent checks and money orders to an LLC he controlled and deposited the payments into his bank account instead of the facility’s account. Ru.
“The people who were writing the checks wouldn’t know the difference because she was the business owner, so they were writing the checks to her LLC,” said Molly Terry, a mother who lives in Autumn Leaves. Ta. “The money was being deposited directly into her bank account.”
The scheme was discovered after Terry and another volunteer, April McElhone, began investigating discrepancies in residents’ payments. They initially estimated the theft, which affected about 30 seniors, at $67,000, but an investigation revealed the range was much wider.
“As we just learned, there are 102 people and the amount is $1.8 million,” Terry said. “It’s really terrible to do something like that to people. And now that we know the amount, she was doing it on a very large scale.”
Upon learning of the discrepancy, Autumn Leaves placed the dancer on leave, and she resigned a few days later.
“Mr. Dancer’s actions do not reflect the culture or values of our community, and we appreciate the continued support of our residents, family, and employees throughout this investigation,” the company said in a statement.
Autumn Reeves thanked the Dallas Police Department and prosecutors for their work and said she would continue to cooperate with investigators.
The company assured residents that they would not have to pay back the stolen rent. But the incident left some feeling violated and wondering why the theft went undetected for so long.
“I guess you feel betrayed by the people you should trust,” Terry said. “Why did it take me so long to figure it out and not the people who work here?” added.
One resident, Jacqueline Bartlett, previously reported a loss of nearly $15,000 in the scheme, and was instructed to wire her rent checks to another company for seven months before the fraud was discovered. said that he had done so.
