Former Preston disability support worker ordered to pay nearly $10K in restitution to victims of financial exploitation

(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester woman was ordered to pay $9,745 and spend nine days in jail after being convicted of theft and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Buffy Jo Bathke, formerly of Preston, was charged thrice with financially exploiting a vulnerable adult and thrice with theft by swindle after taking nearly $10,000 out of Maple Leaf Services clients’ accounts by writing and endorsing checks, then taking the money that was meant to go into the alleged victims’ petty cash funds or pay for goods and services.

According to court records, Bathke pleaded guilty to one count of theft by swindle. The two other theft by swindle charges were dismissed, as were two of the financial exploitation charges.

Bathke received a stay of adjudication for the third financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult charge.

If Bathke completes her probation without further incident, the financial exploitation charge will not go on her criminal record, according to MN Court Records Online.

Bathke, 48, was ordered Monday, Dec. 33, to spend the next five years on supervised probation.

She was also ordered to pay $4,450 in restitution to one victim, $1,815 to another, and $3,480 to a third.

Bathke was also ordered to spend 45 days on electronic home monitoring between now and March 1, 2024.

Bathke may not be a fiduciary or caretaker of another person’s financial assets during her probation, according to court records.

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(ABC 6 News) – A Preston woman faces three charges of financially exploiting a vulnerable adult and three charges of theft by swindle in Fillmore County Court, after allegedly using her position at Maple Leaf Services in Preston to steal from residents.

Buffy Jo Bathke, 47, is accused of taking nearly $10,000 out of three clients’ accounts by writing and endorsing checks, then taking the money that was meant to go into the alleged victims’ petty cash funds or pay for goods and services.

According to court documents, the alleged thefts took place between March of 2015 and August 2021, when the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC) contacted Preston police about money missing from the three vulnerable adults’ bank accounts.

The MAARC report alleged that Bathke took $3,480 from one alleged victim’s account, $4,445 from the second, and $1,815 from the third alleged victim’s account over the course of several years.

Bathke is scheduled to appear in Fillmore County Court Monday, June 12.