CPA accused of stealing more than $100k from elderly aunt with Alzheimer’s

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A woman is accused of cleaning out her aunt's bank account while the aunt was staying in an Alzheimer's assisted living home.

Dana Dockery, 50, was booked in the Shelby County Jail Tuesday for theft of $60,000 to $250,000 and financial exploitation of an elderly person.

According to police, Dockery stole at least $114,402 from her 79-year-old aunt's bank account, but Dockery's cousin believes the number could be much higher.

Mafara Hobson said she was responsible for her aunt's medical care, and Dockery was supposed to manage her finances.

"I hired her because she is a CPA, and my aunt is single with no kids, and right after COVID, she got the diagnosis," said Hobson. "I hired her to make sure her bills were being paid, and she was being taken care of financially, and I started to notice, you know. It was really weird how, all of the sudden, my aunt's account was coming up short at the end of the month."

Hobson said her aunt, Stella Buffer, began requiring around-the-clock care, so she decided to sell her home and put her in a facility that focuses on Alzheimer's care. She said they got about $143,000 from the sale of the house, but within months, Dockery had spent most of the money.

"And not on my aunt. Like she was trying to get rid of the money," said Hobson. "We even have paperwork that shows the day she emptied out my Aunt's account and put it into her own personal account and just kept hiding money."

She said she took Dockery to court to remove her as power of attorney. Hobson was able to raise some money for her aunt's care with a GoFundMe but said she was forced to move her aunt to a nursing home.

probate-court-hearing Download

"When you are in a nursing home with a lot of people, you don't really get that specialized care they need when they have Alzheimer's that I thought she deserved with her own resources," Hobson said. "But the shocking thing is this is a relative that I trusted and my aunt trusted."

Along with raising money for her aunt's care, Hobson has also been trying to educate others about elder abuse and said she was relieved her cousin was finally being held accountable for her actions.

"Does it bring my aunt's money back? No. Does it increase her quality of life? No. It does help restore faith in the system because at first I thought no one cares," said Hobson. "I know a lot of times we can be critical of the police department, and I know there is a need for reform, but I am so grateful to the economics crime unit. You have no idea."

Hobson said the amount taken from her aunt may not seem like a lot of money to some, but to her aunt, it was everything.

Dockery is being held on a $75,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.