Man wanted for elderly exploitation allegation

ANADARKO — An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for a man accused of exploiting an elderly man out of $3,000.

The Caddo County District Court issued a felony arrest warrant Tuesday for William McCaslin, 53, for a count of exploitation of an elderly person by deception or intimidation, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine up to $10,000 plus restitution.

Anadarko police were called shortly after 1:30 p.m. June 25 to a home in the 100 block of East Georgia Street by the elderly man’s daughter who also serves as his power of attorney, Officer Jeff Butler stated.

Earlier that morning, McCaslin, along with two other unidentified men, knocked on the man’s door and asked about doing some yard work. The elderly man said he needed some holes in his driveway filled and that’s when McCaslin offered to fix the driveway with blacktop, the warrant affidavit states. The two other men began quoting prices of $16,000 and $12,000 to do the repairs and when told he didn’t have that much money, asked him about taking out a loan, the daughter told Butler.

While McCaslin continued speaking with the man, the other two men covered a 6-feet by 10-feet section of the area with dirt before McCaslin asked for a check for $3,000, the affidavit states. The man paid and McCaslin cashed the check soon after.

The daughter said she called McCaslin and requested he return the money or she would contact police. She told Butler the bank normally calls her before cashing any checks written against the man’s account, according to the affidavit.

The prevalence of elder fraud is high, according to Nasdaq’s Verafin blog.

An estimated 1 in 10 elderly Americans are abused each year, and in Nasdaq’s 2024 Global Financial Crime Report, $77.7 billion of all reported global fraud was linked to elderly victims. It’s a crime that is underreported.