Joplin woman sentenced for stealing $700k+ from blind woman

A woman from Joplin has been given a 13-year prison sentence after she stole more than $700,000 from an elderly blind woman.

51-year-old Tammy Jo Tripp plead guilty to financial exploitation of an elderly disabled person.

A probable cause statement says Tripp convinced the victim to allow her to take her into her care. Over a period of approximately 8 years, Tripp convinced the victim (by means of deceit) to allow Tripp to create a Power of Attorney document. The elderly woman recalled the creation of this document, but stated she was not fully-apprised of its contents.

Tripp even fraudulently persuaded Community Bank and Trust to permit her to use a rubber stamp
containing the cursive name of the woman, for purposes of cashing and endorsing checks.

Tripp also convinced the woman, by means of fraud or deceit, to allow her access to her Morgan Stanley Investments account “to keep her money safe”.

Once this access was in place, Tripp then took out funds in excess of $6000 per month from the victim’s account. These funds were direct deposited into the victim’s Community Bank and Trust account, and immediately withdrawn by Tripp, using the rubber stamp.

When the victim’s family found out, Tripp used the power of attorney document to remove the woman from a long term care facility and escape with her to a camper.

Once the authorities were on their tail, Tripp and her spouse then dropped off the victim at another long term care facility in Jasper County.