A man in South Jersey is facing charges after police say he scammed an elderly woman out of close to a million dollars over a period of years, draining the 80-year-old victim's assets through an elaborate real estate scheme. Authorities say the man, Donio, used his own company to take control of both her home and her business.
Hamilton Police and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office allege that Donio, who is known for his previous involvement in local politics, used a real estate scheme built around his own LLC to seize the woman's assets. According to authorities, that included her home as well as the business she had long run, which he allegedly maneuvered to take control of over time.
According to court documents, the scheme unfolded as the victim's health declined. Donio offered to help the woman during that vulnerable time, authorities say, but instead of helping her he wrote fraudulent checks to himself and fraudulently discharged a seller take-back mortgage on her home, moves that prosecutors say were part of the theft against her.
In all, authorities say Donio stole a total of 914,000 dollars from the woman. The alleged theft played out over a span of years rather than in a single incident, with prosecutors describing a slow and deliberate draining of the assets of a woman who had trusted the man now accused of taking so much from her.
The case is tied to Ferrara's Italian market in Hamilton, a fixture that closed suddenly last year after more than 60 years in business, a shock to the town. Longtime residents said they could hardly remember a time when the market was not there, describing it as a well-known and important local institution before it shut its doors.
In an ongoing civil case, Donio is named in documents as a consultant to the business and a personal confidant of the victim. Authorities say he has known the woman since he was a teenager, a long relationship of trust that prosecutors allege he ultimately exploited to carry out the financial scheme against her over the years.