An Ohio state official is accused of stealing more than $50,000 from a disabled person

BUCYRUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A Crawford County woman who was censured and suspended from meetings while serving on the Busus City Council is under investigation for more than $50,000 in disability fraud.

According to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, a complaint was received in October from the Crawford County Commission on Developmental and Disability Services regarding possible thefts.

The complaint alleges that 71-year-old Carolyn Scheirman of Bucyrus spent the funds of a developmentally disabled husband for whom she is a power of attorney. Shireman has also previously been accused of telephone harassment and was removed from a council meeting in July after an argument with a citizen.

The case manager reportedly made several attempts to obtain checking account information on behalf of the victim. The sheriff’s office said the case manager only received a partial monthly statement from the victim’s account and was unable to fully investigate the complaint.

Detectives obtained a subpoena for the victim’s bank account between December 2019 and October 2024 to analyze and organize all bank charges associated with the accounts.

The investigation revealed numerous fraudulent withdrawals, as well as purchases Shearman made for her own personal gain. According to the sheriff’s office, those purchases included, among other things, jewelry and clothing.

In addition, it was also found that 401 thousand The victim’s accounts and life insurance, which had an estimated value of more than $50,000, were closed.

Deputies interviewed the victim Thursday and said he did not know those accounts had been closed, and he confirmed he did not authorize Shireman to make her purchases through his bank account.

In a separate interview, Shireman denied using the victim’s account without permission and told deputies the victim knew everything she was spending money on. After consulting with the Crawford County Prosecutor’s Office, she was arrested and transported to the Crawford County Justice Center.

The sheriff’s office said fraud charges are pending but are expected to be filed Friday and the investigation is ongoing.

The case against Scheirman was recently dismissed in Crawford County Municipal Court after she was accused of telephone harassment in October. She was too removed from the meeting of the city council on July 23 and condemned in December for repeated interruptions and outbursts, prompting one committee member to ask: “Do you feel like you’re all there?” after she voluntarily resigned from all city council commissions.

As of Friday, Scheirman is listed as a full board member Website of the city of Bukyrus and had no committees.

in September Scheirman wrote a letter to the editor at CrawfordCountyNOW.com to address disputes with fellow council members and allegations of harassment. Her letter did not mention the fraud allegations.