Baptist Pilfers Dead Man’s Pension: $545K Scheme

BIRMINGHAM, AL – A Huntsville-area scheme to siphon over $545,000 from a dead man’s retirement account has landed a Texas man in federal court. DWAYNE ELLIS BAPTISTE, 43, of Huntsville, Texas, was indicted today on a slew of charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton announced.

The indictment details a callous grab for cash following the deaths of Ronald and Ralph Swinehart in October 2011. Ronald Swinehart, a retired Lockheed Martin employee, had a retirement account through ING Institutional Plan Services, and had named his son, Ralph, as his power of attorney. When both men died within weeks of each other, Baptiste allegedly saw an opportunity. He filed a forged power of attorney, falsely claiming to be acting on Ronald Swinehart’s behalf.

Baptiste didn’t stop at a fake document. He opened two commercial accounts under the name “Swinehart Investment Solutions” at BBVA Compass Bank and brazenly changed the beneficiary designation on the $545,669 retirement account from the deceased Ralph Swinehart to himself. He then redirected all future distributions to these newly created accounts. The indictment alleges four wire transfers totaling the stolen sum were funneled into the BBVA accounts, constituting four counts of wire fraud.

To further conceal the crime, Baptiste allegedly fabricated a “spousal consent form” – claiming Ronald Swinehart’s wife, Rosalie Swinehart, was deceased – and mailed it to ING in December 2011 to authorize withdrawals. This act forms the basis of the mail fraud charge. The money didn’t sit long. Within weeks, Baptiste withdrew $496,085 and deposited $375,000 into a new account under the name “Baptiste Inc.” He then drew a $225,000 check to “cash” and opened another “Baptiste Inc.” account at Regions Bank, depositing a $225,000 cashier’s check. The final act? A $225,000 withdrawal from the Regions account just days later.

The feds are hitting Baptiste with the full force of the law. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each count of wire and mail fraud. Money laundering carries a potential sentence of up to 30 years and another $1 million fine. Adding insult to injury, the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year sentence on top of any other sentence imposed. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Manu Balachandran and John B. Ward are prosecuting the case, investigated by the FBI.

An indictment is not a conviction. DWAYNE ELLIS BAPTISTE is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But the evidence, as laid out in the indictment, paints a grim picture of calculated greed preying on the vulnerability of a grieving family and a stolen legacy.