Florida teacher, 108, dies just 16 days before she could see family lawyer get jailed for five years after robbing her of $3m

  • Lawyer Matthew Roby schemed Helen Kuhn, 108 into letting him assume power of attorney 
  • Roby was in court on Friday to take a plea from prosecutors after stealing thousands from 108-year-old Helen Kuhn
  • Roby's father Ronald Roby's father had been the family attorney until he lost his license in 2014 for misappropriation of funds, a report said
  • Around $2.4 million of the $3 million stolen from Kuhn has since been recovered  

A Florida lawyer has been jailed for five years for conning a 108 year-old client out of $3 million - with his victim dying just days before he was brought to justice.

Matthew Roby was handed the sentence as part of a plea deal reached in Orlando, Florida, Friday. 

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Sadly, his elderly victim Helen Kuhn died just 16 days previously, having spoken of her excitement at the prospect of hearing 'keys jangling' as Roby was sent down. 

Kuhn was of sharp mind when Roby began working as her lawyer in 2019, after taking over the job from his later father Ronald.

But Roby somehow tricked her into signing over power of attorney, with the con only coming to light after Kuhn received a far higher tax bill than she was expecting.

She grew suspicious, took her papers to a fraud investigator, and Roby was charged shortly afterwards.  

Roby was charged with exploitation of an elderly person and grand theft of more than $100,000, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said, Fox News reported.

"Helen taught school for 35 years, flew planes until the age of 93 and drove until the age of 101," Orange County officials said

During that time, Roby used Khun's millions as his personal bank account in which he used for pleasure and to pay others, a report said. 

His trickery involved transferring her funds to another bank.

Kuhn thinks Roby was hoping to hold much of the cash until she died, then spend it after she died.  

Kuhn, a former school teacher for nearly four decades, and quite savvy despite her age, knew something was odd when she received a massive tax bill.

The lawyer identified as Matthew Roby was in court on Friday to take a plea from prosecutors after stealing thousands from 108-year-old Helen Kuhn. Roby was charged with exploitation of an elderly person and grand theft of more than $100,000, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said, Fox News reported
Helen Kuhn's Florida home is pictured. The Florida teacher had been excited to see her conman jailed, but died just 16 days before he was sentenced to five years jail
Roby's father Ronald Roby had been the family attorney until he lost his license in 2014 for misappropriation of funds, ABC9 News reported. The elder Roby was accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a client. He w ill be sentenced in August and will have to pay back the money he spent

When she questioned Roby to why the amount was so high, he told her to pay it and didn't elaborate. 

Kuhn was onto her attorney and started to do some investigating on her own. 

Her first stop was contacting the sheriff's department to share with them her suspicions about her scheming attorney, that she allegedly trusted.

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Detective Chris Williams spent three-years investigating the activities of Roby and what was revealed was stunning.  

From March to September of 2019 Roby transferred $490,000 from Kuhn's bank account to her firm's trust account.   

Kuhn had been shocked and dismayed by Roby's actions. She believed that he was just waiting for her to die before he collected on her life savings.

 'Helen taught school for 35 years, flew planes until the age of 93 and drove until the age of 101,' Orange County officials said, Fox News reported

She was also on top of her finances and was outraged by the fraud that she experienced. Around $2.4 million of the cash stolen has since been recovered. 

She relished in the idea of him spending years in prison after police caught the con artist and eager to see him pay for his crime. 

The quick minded Kuhn kept saying she couldn't wait to hear the jingle of the keys when he got arrested, but sadly she passed two weeks before he was sentenced.

Prosecutors said most of the money that Roby took went to pay into another estate, but he was not charged with any crime in that case. 

He was arrested in 2021 and was disbarred and can no longer practice law in Florida.

The apple didn't fall far from the tree. 

Roby's father Ronald Roby had been the family attorney until he lost his license in 2014 for misappropriation of funds, ABC9 News reported.     

The elder Roby was accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a client.  He will be sentenced in August and will have to pay back the money he spent.  

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