OSHKOSH, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced that Terry Lynn Culver, 64, of Oshkosh, was sentenced to serve three years in the Wisconsin Prison System followed by six years of supervised release. Following a four-day jury trial, Culver was convicted of eight felonies for crimes related to elder financial abuse and tax fraud. The court also granted the State’s petition to seize Culver’s home to pay the restitution owed to the victim’s estate.
The convictions are the result of a joint elder abuse and tax fraud investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) and Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR).
“Elder financial abuse causes significant harm and must be combated,” said Attorney General Kaul. “Thank you to those at DOR and DOJ who held the defendant accountable for his crimes.”
From 2013-2018, Culver was the power of attorney for the victim, and took over $426,000 from the victim’s bank accounts and spent the money on home improvements and vehicles and at bars, restaurants, and casinos. Culver did not report this illegal income on his State of Wisconsin income tax returns.
The case was investigated by Wisconsin DOJ Division of Criminal Investigations, the DOR Office of Criminal Investigations, and prosecuted by Wisconsin DOJ Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit Assistant Attorney General Timothy Filipa. Wisconsin DOJ also provided victim services.
Wisconsinites can help fight patient and elder abuse by reporting abuse at www.ReportElderAbuseWI.org and 1-833-586-0107.
The Wisconsin Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit, within the Wisconsin DOJ Division of Legal Services, receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $1,715,882 for the fiscal year 2023. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $571,962 for fiscal year 2023 is funded by the State of Wisconsin.
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