An accountant described by a judge as the “poster child” for white-collar crime was sentenced Monday to a maximum 12 years in prison for stealing $1.9 million from a 102-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s.
Harry R. Krausman, who had been appointed to handle the victim’s assets, had argued that a community-corrections sentence would be appropriate punishment for his conduct.
But Denver District Judge Herbert Stern rebuked the 67-year-old Krausman, dismissing his claims that he was a “nice guy” who tried to help everyone.
“I’m sorry to say this, Mr. Krausman, but I think your perception of reality in this case is vastly different from everybody else’s,” Stern said. “Your performance today puts you at the top of the list as the poster child for a white-collar criminal.”
Prosecutor Melanie Names called the case one of the “most egregious cases of self- dealing I’ve seen.”
The victim, Alberta Wittlich, worked for 44 years as an operator for Bell Telephone and US West and invested heavily in Bell stock. She began her career at 17 in Leavenworth, Kan., and retired at 61 in Denver. She plowed the dividends she earned from the stock back into buying more stock. For at least two decades, she trusted Krausman to do her taxes. At one point, the portfolio was valued at about $4 million.
In January 1995, because of Wittlich’s physical and mental condition, Krausman was appointed conservator and co-guardian. Four years later, the thefts began. Krausman claimed he wasn’t stealing but attempting to better Wittlich’s finances.
Wittlich died Dec. 3, 2003, without knowing that her trusted friend had betrayed her.
Wittlich’s niece, Jo Ann Alford, made sure that her aunt never knew.
“He (Krausman) deliberately violated our aunt’s long-held and frequently expressed desires not to subject her substantial ‘nest egg’ of stock to risk of sale or additional taxes,” Alford told the judge. “Because of his calculated manipulation … he thoughtlessly … abused a hard- working woman who had saved carefully during her entire life of over a century.”
Alford added that for years Krausman “masqueraded” as a trusted family friend, attending family birthday parties and assisting with Wittlich’s care needs.
“Sadly … our greatest task was keeping the … deception from our aunt, who would have been completely devastated by the knowledge that he had stolen from her,” Alford said.
Names said the money went to Krausman’s family, friends and business interests. Among them was Lakewood Capital Partners LLC, which received $1.1 million from the Wittlich estate. The company included Krausman and his son, Kent, who committed suicide in August 2003. Investigators said the money was used by Lakewood Capital to purchase the Lakewood Athletic Club, one of the largest clubs of its type in Denver’s western suburbs.
Names said restitution will be more than $2 million and will include costs for “forensic accounting investigations” and interest. Krausman pleaded guilty to theft.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
