Whatcom man suspected of stealing almost $1 million from ‘vulnerable adult’
A Blaine man is free on bail after his arrest this week on charges that he stole nearly $1 million from an elderly woman who was in his care.
Justin Grant James, 37, surrendered to authorities at the Whatcom County Jail on Wednesday, Nov. 16, on a warrant for his arrest that was issued in September, said Deb Slater, spokeswoman for the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
James posted a $152,000 bond later that day, according to online jail records.
According to records from Whatcom County Superior Court, James is facing three counts of first-degree theft, and also charges that he abandoned and neglected the woman, who was described in court documents as a “vulnerable adult” in her late 80s.
She is now in hospice care, according to court records.
James is suspected of stealing is $900,000 from the sale of the woman’s home, Slater told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
James also was cashing the woman’s Social Security checks in the amount of $1,138 monthly, according to court documents.
According to court records, the case dates at least to 2019 when the woman’s bank contacted Adult Protective Services.
It came to the attention of sheriff’s deputies earlier this year, after a complaint from Adult Protective Services, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court in September.
Bank records support the allegations, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
Police found the woman, who The Herald is not naming, wandering in the road a total of 11 times, leading to the abandonment and neglect charges, according to court documents.
Much of the money was spent at bars and casinos, according to financial records cited in court documents.
At various times this year, James and the woman had been living in motels, according to court documents.
