Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing and least-understood crimes in America. Those who have never been victimized tend to brush it off. If it happens, they figure law enforcement, attorneys and the judicial system will protect the victim and justice will be served on the perpetrator. But it's not that simple.
Through no fault of his own, Wesley Newman’s identity was stolen by his second wife Betty. As a result, his wife attempted to claim his entire estate upon his death, and disinherit his six children by forging a Last Will and Testament and beneficiary change forms to his insurance policies, pension plan and bank accounts.
Since Mr. Newman was now deceased, his wife presumed her caper was a success. But this was not the case. After discovering the forged will at the courthouse, Mr. Newman’s six children sought justice on his behalf by filing a will contest. Although they thought justice would be swift, they were wrong. This is just the beginning of a long nightmare for his adult children.
The series of forgeries are compounded since they occurred in multiple law enforcement jurisdictions and counties. They learn the attorneys, district attorneys and the judge are longtime personal friends of Mrs. Newman, a former high paid call girl or prostitute. District attorneys claim they are bogged down by violent crime and have inadequate resources to help the victims or prosecute the criminal and master of forgery. Ultimately, the district attorneys, FBI and corporations don't press charges.
In "No Greater Deception, A True Texas Story, Dotson's stepmother forges several family members' wills, insurance policies, pension plans, checks, deeds, titles, applications, account cards and beneficiary change forms to gain access of her relatives' assets, real estate, mineral rights, stocks, CDs, bonds and safe deposit boxes. The stepmother is also implicated in the mysterious deaths of her father, husband and only brother.
Mr. Newman’s six children find themselves with a very costly dilemma. In order to recover their inheritance, they must file felony charges on Mrs. Newman and prosecute their stepmother at their own expense. They fear there is no end to the lawsuits, appeals and attorney fees that will follow. The legal expenses could easily run into the millions of dollars, which is more than the value of their father’s estate. But they feel obligated to seek justice on the behalf of their deceased father who is not here to defend himself and the estate he wished to leave his children and grandchildren.
The first clue that their inheritance may be in jeopardy came in 1987 when Mrs. Newman’s father passes away. Mrs. Newman and her brother present two entirely different Last Wills and Testaments to the probate judge. Seeing that Betty’s parents had disinherited her when she married Mr. Newman, it was more than odd to find Betty claiming herself as the sole heir of her father’s estate. Her father also dies in his sleep three days after he supposedly made this new will is another strange twist.
In addition to forgery, Betty may also be a black widow killer. In the midst of the will contest, Betty’s brother mysteriously dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s later learned that Betty is listed as her brother’s sole heir in his Last Will and Testament. Since no likely heirs challenge the authenticity of her brother’s will, Betty easily gains her father’s estate and her brother’s estate in one fatal swoop.
Betty’s actions lead Mr. Newman to mistrust his wife. He warns his children about her path of destruction and intent to gain his entire estate for herself and her two sons. It was no surprise to his children that he made a will without Betty’s knowledge when he learned he had leukemia.
Betty told them how she found him at the ranch with their aunt Sally and several attorneys that day. She was furious that her husband didn’t sign the sweetheart will she presented to him the previous day. The sweetheart would leave the entire estate to her and not Mr. Newman’s children. From that day forward it was known as the day Betty threw a fit.
“Betty swore she’d not let my father get away with what he had done. We weren’t sure to what length she’d go to overturn his last wishes. But he warned us she’d put us through hell when he dies. And, he was right,” says Sydney, Mr. Newman’s oldest daughter.
Betty closed all bank accounts and emptied safe deposit boxes within days of her husband’s death. There was obviously no such thing as assets being frozen in Texas. Or, banks had failed to follow strict guidelines, which may explain the surprise on their faces when approached by Mr. Newman’s children. Even so, the bank did nothing to help them or to recover the frozen assets.
"I thought I just needed to be proactive, ask about my father’s bank accounts, CDs, stocks and safe deposit boxes, and the bank would step in to freeze them. But that's not the way it went," says Heather, Mr. Newman’s youngest daughter and executor he named in his will. “My stepmother had years to spin her web and plan her crimes. She was several steps ahead of us.”
For the next twelve months, Mr. Newman’s daughter’s lives are turned upside down. While working full-time, they did the investigative work for their case themselves. Each was put to the test, and the clock was ticking. The courtroom showdown would soon begin. There is so much stress that each morning they are greeted by a sickening tightness in their chest and stomach.
"I felt so much anxiety. The loss of my father was overwhelming. I woke up every morning mad about what my evil stepmother did to him. It made my blood boil. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack every day. I didn't know what to do. There was always this conflict between do I go to work or do I work on our case. There was always a telephone call I needed to make to try to locate the attorneys that made my father’s will. I called over 200 of them within a 60 mile radius of the ranch," says Sydney.
“It took forever to find an attorney who would take our case. They either didn’t believe my stepmother would actually forge my father’s will, or they didn’t want to get involved in what they considered a messy domestic issue. When I did find an attorney, the legal expenses were enormous. Their mission isn't to help you or to see that justice is served. It's to get money from you. Although all of my brothers and sisters said they’d pay their share of the legal fees, they didn’t. Sydney and I picked up all the costs. My nerves were shot and I ate Tums every day,” says Heather.
“Then my aunt turned against us. She wouldn’t tell us the names of the attorneys that executed my father’s real will. She obviously thought she’d gain more by siding with my stepmother,” says Sydney.
At the encouragement of several friends, Sydney decided to write a book about her family’s experience with identity theft. She left a six-figure job at Compaq to share her story with the world.
“I hoped my book ‘NO GREATER DECEPTION, A True Texas Story’ would prevent others from going through what my family went through. That’s exactly what it’s doing. People are emailing me every day about how they or one of their family members became a victim of identity theft by another family member. As a result of doing radio and television interviews, I’m able to spread the word about identity theft,” says Sydney.
“Here’s a shocking statistic for you. 95% of all identity thefts are performed by family members on family members. That’s not the message we’re hearing on TV today. So, putting your money in Citibank or Bank of America isn’t going to prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft. Spouses and relatives find it easy to get their hands on seniors and relatives social security numbers and drivers license numbers at home.”
“Anyone can purchase a notary seal at any office supply store today. And, the name of a deceased notary can be placed on it. That makes it easy for others to forge documents.”
"My stepmother established several bank accounts in my father's name, and had the cancelled checks mailed to post office boxes in multiple towns that my father was unaware of. She then signed my father's name on several checks in order to establish a second signature for my father that she would later use to forge his will, beneficiary change forms and other documents linked to his assets."
"When she produced the cancelled checks in court to prove her forgery was my father's authentic signature, our CSI forensic expert caught her in the act. Several grocery store clerks circled my stepmother's name on the checks as the person who signed my father's name."
“It's terrible that forging wills, insurance policies and pension plans of family members is mistakenly viewed as a domestic issue instead of a felony. Our legislative and judicial systems must address this felony crime appropriately.”
Sydney and her sister Heather are still trying to recover their inheritance and many of their father’s assets that their stepmother sold after his death.
Dotson has been seen on The NBC Today Show and PBS. She's currently speaking on radio station Talk Shows as an Identity Theft Expert. Detectives, profilers, FBI and handwriting experts are using her book as a textbook case study on identity theft and the criminal mind of a Black Widow forger.
“NO GREATER DECEPTION, A True Texas Story” by Sydney Newman Dotson is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites today.
For more information about the author, her family and identity theft, go to http://www.NoGreaterDeception.com
ABOUT THE BOOK
Hold onto your bootstraps folks! If you liked Erin Brockovich, you’ll be thoroughly intrigued with the adventures of these two sisters, their knack for investigative work, their family and influential friends in Texas. This is a stirring, humorous and unconventional “true story” about their epics and the Texas Justice System.
Sydney and her sister Heather will take you through their gut wrenching, nerve racking, emotional roller coaster ride that occurs after their father dies and their stepmother produces a Last Will and Testament that leaves the stepmother everything.
As the two sisters face their father’s death, an evil stepmother, and a tainted legal system, they introduce themselves to many people along the way while searching for missing pieces of the family puzzle. What they discover makes them question everything they once thought was real.
Is their father the man they think he is? How was he able to buy all the land and mineral rights that he owned? Were his connections to George Bush, Lyndon Johnson, Lady Bird and Joe Bonanno much deeper than they seemed? Was he truly involved in the JFK assassination?
What they learn about their stepmother Betty is even more devastating. How did the town whore come to marry their father the Police Chief? Did she kill her only brother and forge her own father’s Will too? Just how many accomplices does she have? Are some of them their own brothers and sisters? What the two sisters’ forensic document expert, Mrs. Higgins, discovers will send chills up and down your spine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
From as early as the founding of America, Sydney Newman Dotson's family has been blessed with a long line of judges, law enforcement officers and military officers including 2nd Lt. John Campbell who fought with George Washington at Valley Forge, and General George Armstrong Custer who died at the Little Big Horn. During the days of Annie Oakley in the 1800’s, Sydney’s great-great-great grandmother served as her husband’s deputy and wore guns. Sydney’s father was a fifth generation law enforcement officer in Texas. This strong ethical family upbringing inspired Sydney to write this book.
Sydney Newman Dotson has over 20 years of corporate strategy, sales and marketing experience with such companies as GTE, Compaq, EDS and IBM. As IBM’s Director of Corporate Business Intelligence, Sydney created IBM’s Global Business Intelligence Network, Global Market View, Alert Newsletter, and the Field Intelligence Posse. Sydney and her husband live in Dallas, Texas where she’s an author and business consultant.
Contact: Sydney Dotson Productions, 214-358-3080
http://www.NoGreaterDeception.com
# # #
