Webster’s aunt takes the stand against former senator

YANCEYVILLE, N.C. — Hugh Webster’s 83-year-old aunt took the stand Tuesday in the second day of his trial for embezzlement and felony exploitation of an elderly adult in Caswell County Superior Court.

Doris Nance has accused her nephew of taking more than $12,000 — money from an IRA account that she said she gave him to invest for her — in April 2007.

Nance also claims Webster, a former certified public accountant, kept a certificate of deposit she bought worth $10,000 — one of four CDs Nance gave him to deposit, but which she said she never received interest from. From 1996 until May 2007, Nance had given Webster power of attorney over her affairs.

Nance, a Caswell County native and divorced mother of two, spent 21 years working at Hanover Mill in Caswell County until it closed in 1985. Speaking feebly throughout the proceedings, Nance said she saved the money she earned from Hanover Mill to establish a profit sharing account with Webster’s help.

“I trusted him above anybody else because I always thought he was honest,” Nance said of Webster in reference to when she gave him power of attorney in 1996.

From her savings, Nance purchased the four CDs in 1989 and later opened an IRA with Fidelity. When she realized she was not receiving interest from the fourth CD, she asked Webster about it. However, it wasn’t until 2007 that she sought third-party help.

“I only drew interest for three,” Nance said, her hands unsteady. “(Webster) said he put (the fourth) in his office. I trusted him; I didn’t question him anymore.”

Later in the trial, however, Webster’s attorney Kieran Shanahan pointed out to Nance a 1993 bank statement listing four CDs in her account.

In regards to the cashier’s check for $12,115.49 that Nance received when she closed her Fidelity IRA on April 19, 2007, she gave it to Webster to invest at State Employee’s Credit Union at a better interest rate, which she said he suggested. Nance’s monthly interest from her Fidelity IRA amounted to more than $950 some months.

Nance confirmed that she ultimately cashed out two of the CDs — totaling more than $10,000 — to pay for a new car and home repairs in 2007. Records showed that on April 27, 2007, Nance overdrew her account by a few thousand dollars after making withdrawals totaling more than $20,000.

“I can’t believe that,” she told Shanahan. “(The record) shows that I did but I don’t remember doing that.”

In May 2007, Nance confronted Webster about not receiving any interest from the new IRA at SECU and demanded the money back. Maintaining that the $12,115.49 was a gift, Webster wrote his aunt a check for $5,000, which she said she cashed “to buy groceries,” despite having an overdrawn account.

Unsatisfied, Nance retained Roxboro attorney James Tolin to intervene. She revoked Webster’s power of attorney and wrote a new will. Tolin testified that he sent Webster a letter requesting the $10,000 CD and the $7,115.49 remainder of the IRA.

Shanahan questioned Nance at length about applying for Medicaid, suggesting she was attempting to get rid of her assets in order to qualify for benefits. Nance denied ever applying for Medicaid, although she did help her ex-husband, Robert Nance, apply for benefits in 2006, acting as his representative. Robert was ultimately told he would not qualify because of their assets.

“I did not have nothing to do with Medicaid,” Nance said. “I have never applied for Medicaid… I have never, ever asked for any help.”

Court records show that in March 2007, Nance executed a deed transfer on her house to her daughter. Nance said she transferred the deed because she was afraid of what Webster might do with it, although the issues regarding her IRA check did not happen until the next month.

In April 2007, she closed her Fidelity IRA, giving the cashier’s check for $12,115.49 to Webster to invest. By the end of May 2007, Nance had revoked Webster’s power of attorney and written a new will.

The trial will reconvene today at 9:30 a.m. in Caswell County Superior Court.