Man accused of stealing almost $2M from elderly Cary relative seeks to have case dismissed

Attorneys for a former Barrington business owner accused of stealing almost $2 million from an elderly Cary relative said prosecutors misled the grand jury that indicted him.

Douglas R. Boncosky, 54, of Barrington has been charged with two Class X felonies of aggravated identity theft against a person older than 60, as well as theft of more than $1 million, McHenry County court records show. He also was charged with financial exploitation of a person older than 60 and forgery, according to the indictment.

Boncosky, who has been in jail ahead of his trial, has had his accounts frozen, his attorney said.

Prosecutors violated Boncosky’s “due process rights by not eliciting testimony at the grand jury as to the age of the victim, and that would be necessary to return a bill of indictment for charges of aggravated identity theft and financial exploitation of an elderly person,” Boncosky’s attorney, Matthew Haiduk, said in his motion seeking to have the charges dismissed.

Prosecutors told the grand jury that the now-81-year-old was older than 70 during the years Boncosky allegedly made transfers from their accounts and into his business and personal accounts, but proof of their age was not shown, Haiduk argued in his motion.

“The state presented no evidence of age of the purported victim in the case,” Haiduk said in the motion.

Prosecutors said in their response that they “did not mislead the jury, offer perjured or false testimony or provide inaccurate testimony. The defendant’s actual argument is that they find the evidence presented at the grand jury hearing to be insufficient, which cannot be a basis for a motion to dismiss at this point.”

The response written by Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Neubauer also said that since Boncosky is a relative, he “would be aware of [their] age.”

Haiduk argued that the state “deliberately” misled the grand jury in not presenting “any evidence” regarding the “scope of the power of attorney” Boncosky held.

Prosecutors said the grand jury testimony included that Boncosky was given power of attorney and authority by the relative over “discretionary decision-making.”

The state’s motion listed what Boncosky did have authority over, including real estate transactions, financial institution transactions and stock and bond transactions. The power of attorney did not include the authority to act for them and in their name, according to the motion.

“It can be argued that the defendant taking just under $2 million from the victim’s accounts and putting them in his personal accounts or his business accounts was not an act for [the relative],” prosecutors said in the motion.

Prosecutors also said the relative was interviewed and said they “did not give defendant permission to use this money for himself or his business.”

The relative, who resides in an assisted-living facility, gave power of attorney to Boncosky on July 27, 2016, according to the motions.

Prosecutors allege that from about Aug. 1, 2019, through Aug. 21, 2023, Boncosky committed the alleged offenses.

Boncosky “knowingly used personal identification information of” the relative “to access [their] financial accounts and fraudulently obtain money, goods or services,” according to grand jury testimony.

He also is accused of forging the relative’s name on their checks.

In August 2023, Cary police officers met with two of Boncosky’s brothers who said they believed their older brother was “involved in some criminal activity.”

From 2018 through 2023, one of the brothers said Boncosky, who was the owner of America’s Bath Co., “had been moving money from [the relative’s] accounts without their knowledge or consent and depositing the money into his own accounts,” according to grand jury testimony.

Boncosky allegedly wrote out checks in the relative’s name “without signing them accordingly as her power of attorney to both” his personal and business accounts.

He owned “multiple warehouses and a fleet of new vehicles for his business, which did not appear to match the amount of profit his business was making,” according to the testimony.

During the investigation, police said they found that Boncosky allegedly was making wire transfers from the relative’s account into his bank accounts.

“The transfers were for larger sums of money, some as large as $26,000,” according to the testimony, which also noted that investigators found “numerous Zelle transfers” from the relative to Boncosky.

Detectives asked the relative if they had authorized Boncosky to use the money for himself or his business, and they said no, according to the testimony.

In August, one of his brothers contacted police and said Boncosky was going to close the business and sell all of the equipment, and that he already had sold his home and changed his phone number.

When asked, Boncosky “admitted to lending the money to himself,” which he never paid back, according to the testimony.

The motion is set to be argued Monday, April 15.