Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office announced Monday that a Paducah couple is facing multiple charges for theft and the exploitation of vulnerable adults.
Paducah attorney Kenneth Verne Anderson, 68, and Gina Smith Anderson, 63, are charged with 25 counts of knowing exploitation of an adult of more than $300 dollars, 5 counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $10,000 and 1 count of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $1,000.
The indictment – the result of an investigation by Cameron’s Medicaid Fraud Unit – alleges the pair knowingly exploited the finances of numerous vulnerable adults between 2006 and 2022.
The Louisville Courier-Journal reports Kenneth Anderson was informed of the charges when reached by the newspaper Monday at the Paducah Office of Public Guardian/Administrator. The outlet also reported Anderson, on a subsequent call, said “his wife never worked for his office other than as a volunteer.”
An arrest warrant was issued for the pair last Friday, after the indictment was returned Friday in McCracken Circuit Court.
The couple are set to be arraigned on Dec. 22. Bail is set at $20,000 each.
Kenneth Anderson is already facing an April trial in Ballard County on charges of knowingly abusing or neglecting a 23-year-old man with severe disabilities after being appointed his guardian.
That complaint alleged Anderson was granted guardianship of the male in March of 2019. In December 2019. When Kentucky Department for Community Based Services investigators made contact with the male, “it was apparent he was not being cared for” and he was in an “emaciated and extremely malnourished” state.
The 23-year-old male was taken to the hospital for treatment before being remanded to a Louisville care facility, where he made a full recovery.
Courts appoint public administrators to administer estates, trusts and guardian accounts – including for people with disabilities who are found by a jury to be unable to manage their own affairs.
Cameron’s office announced the McCracken indictments after an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Unit led by Detective Greg Dukes. Medicaid Fraud Unit deputy director David Startsman and Assistant Attorney General Emily Campbell presented the case before the McCracken County grand jury.