Fort Myers man accused of stealing $400K from woman via power of attorney

A Fort Myers man is accused of stealing over $400,000 from a Sebring woman as her power of attorney.

Gary Gene Campbell, 61, was arrested in Nevada and is awaiting extradition to Highlands County, according to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.

Campbell was given power of attorney for the victim in June of 2020. When the woman died two years later, the POA legally expired, giving Campbell no rights to access or use the victim’s money.

The sheriff’s office said, despite that, he continued to funnel money from her accounts into his own pockets for months after she died.

The investigation showed that Campbell cashed out a pair of CDs worth of $265,000 and diverted stock dividends worth over $16,000.

Campbell moved to Nevada after Hurricane Ian last year. The missing money was discovered in February of this year when a local attorney assumed the role of the executor of the estate, HCSO said.

Investigators found that Campbell began to move large amounts from the victim’s account shortly before she died.

In total, he took $445,339.21.

He faces charges of fraudulent use of a personal ID of a deceased person (over $50,000); grand theft of $50,000 or more, exploitation of the elderly ($50,000 or more) and using a two-way device to facilitate a felony.  

He was taken into custody by the Henderson Police Department in Nevada, the sheriff’s office said.