How my family was “Duped” in the 80’s

“There are two histories: The official history, and then the secret history, where you find the real causes of events.” Quote of Honore de Balzac a novelist from the 18th century

“Duped”, is the best word I can describe how our family was deceived in the 1980s. First, we learned my brother’s wife was an embezzler, Second: my father’s uniform store was embezzled!

To set the stage: There were no cellular phones nor internet. The only way to check on people was through recommendation letters from past employers or friends, hiring an investigator, or getting a credit check.

In the case of my sister-in-law, she was from Toronto, Canada. My brother met her in an elevator while he was staying with our parents in Hollywood, Florida. She and her husband purchased the penthouse condo, where she was spending the winter with her three boys and their nanny. When Scott, my brother, returned to Chicago, Elaine walked out on her three boys, ages six, four, and two, to come to Chicago and start a new life with him.

Elaine, told us she was from a small village in England, close to the Scottish border. This explained her elegant English accent. She left her village at eighteen and immigrated toToronto to live with her aunt and uncle. She told us she got a job as a dental hygienist and that’s where she met her husband, Gary. Gary, inherited a paper company, and the couple lived an upper class life. But, Elaine, was not happy with her life. When she overheard our parents talking about their life in Chicago and their gorgeous doctor son, I believe she felt she found her stooge.

When Elaine arrived in Chicago and saw Scott’s one-bedroom apartment, she was shocked! This was not what she was expecting, given the way Scott spent money, without looking at the cost. She had nothing to do during the day because Scott was a medical student, so she started to reinvent herself. First, she started with her teeth. She used our mother’s friend Freddy, who was a dentist, to have all her teeth capped. With her teeth capped, it was hard for her to eat. She went from a size eight to a size four. Now, none of her clothes fit and she started shopping. But clothes from department stores just were not her style. She only shopped designer and in speciality boutiques on Oak Street in Chicago. With her new figure, she hired a trainer to keep her fit. Then, to enhance her looks she purchased a tanning bed. Now she always had a heathy glow. She modeled herself after Paris Hilton. When she realized Paris wore hair extensions, she went for them too. She discovered colored contacts and transformed her appearance once again now her blue eyes shone with a captivating violet shade reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor’s iconic look.

All this shopping had a toll. Scott, as a medical student, was being supported by our parents and didn’t have the funds to pay for all of her purchases. Too embarrassed to ask our parents for more money, they found a money lender. When the loan came due, they still had no funds. They had to turn to the only ones that could save them; Our parents.

“Mom, Dad, I owe a money lender a lot of money. If I don’t pay him by Friday night, I may not have a hand or G-d knows what they will do to me.”

Our parents, looked at their son with such love, plus they thought this was the best story they had ever heard. How clever of Scott and Elaine to find a money lender. Sure, they will pay his debt. My father had to go the bank with a suitcase, because the money lender would only accept cash.

They met Tony, the money lender, at a restaurant in Chicago that was frequented by gangsters. And the next day my mom told all their friends about their adventure in the underworld, a rare event, given to them by their precious son and his beautiful wife.

When they took them out to dinner the next day to discuss the issue, they did put conditions on the payment.

“Elaine, you must get a job. You have too much time on your hands. And I want your charge cards. I saw on Oprah the other day, how charge cards put people in debt. I want them to be cut up. We only want to protect you and Scott from this ever happening again.” my mother explained to them, with her hand over Scott’s to calm him down.

Well, Elaine, did get a job, but never gave up her plastic. She went to work for a broker. Because she was beautiful, and had a sexy English speaking voice, she was given the position of personal assistant to the Executive Vice President of the brokerage firm. Her job was to sweet talk the investors and give them tickets to sporting events, concerts, plays, operas, and to know about everything that was happening in Chicago.

When she turned forty, she made a huge party for herself. The invitations were hand delivered by a man dress in medieval clothes. The invitation had an English wax stamp in red and red tassels trailing from the closed envelope. It was the most beautiful request to attend a party I had ever seen.

Part of the invitation was a map, because the location of her party was to be held at the Morton Grove forest preserve. Yet, when we arrived we realized we didn’t need the map, because there were American, English, and Scottish Flags lining the road leading to a huge Medieval Tent. When we arrived we realized we were not dressed correctly. Because the temperature that day was 96 degrees we came dressed in shorts and t-shirts, however, all her female guests were dressed in long floral dresses with big hats and the men were all in Polo. Scott and Elaine, arrived late as always and made a jaw dropping entrance. I felt as though they were being blown in by the wind. Elaine’s arms was hooked through Scott’s and they approached their guest as though they were royalty. Scott, was wearing Gucci suede lavender shoes with no socks, white slacks, a white linen shirt which he didn’t bother to button all the way so his chest was exposed and a Tartan Sports coat with a Lavender boutonniere. Elaine made her entrance in a mid length white linen dress to match Scott’s shirt. Around her eighteen inch waist she sported a thick gold belt with matching gold Grecian style open shoes. She also wore a Tartan plaid hat to match Scott’s sports jacket. She had placed the hat on one side of her head on the other side her hair extensions fell to her waist which were secured with a diamond hair pin. Scott had a shy smile but Elaine was beaming as the orchestra played “Here comes the Queen”. Quite an extravaganza!

The following day I called my brother to thank him for inviting us to this “Forever to be remembered party.”

“Hallee, Elaine, is not only turning forty,” he told me, “She can now reveal who she really is.”

“What?, what do you mean ‘who she really is?’” I find when I listened to my brother brag about his life, I tend to not really pay attention.

“Yes, she showed me her papers last week. She is the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Northumberland. But her solicitor told us to keep it under wraps until she receive the final documents. We now must addressed her as Lady Clifton. She has been given a portion of a Castle near London and land. She told me she was not able to assume this title before because the Duke was upset with her when she left England and married a Jew. She told me the Duke restructured her inheritance to allow her to claim her title at 40. We’re going to England next month to learn more.”

There were so many holes in this story, but I’d learned never to second guess him. I was sure my parents would, but they feasted on this story and all the subsequent stories that followed for the next ten years.

On my morning calls to my mother I would be told the latest news, ” Good morning Hallee, I just got off the phone with Scott. He told me they just returned from London. He said the castle is even more beautiful than the picture. Elaine is staying in London because she is working on the repairs. He told me they stayed in an old hotel nearby. Oh, and he said they met all sorts of interesting people with the funnest last names.”

Well, four years later we learned how Elaine became “Lady Clifton.” She’d embezzled over two million dollars from the brokerage firm, creating fake companies and wiring money to these accounts.

She divorced Scott, even though he said he would stand by her. She moved back to Toronto and opened a beauty spa with her oldest son, remarried, only to divorce again. She fled Toronto and moved to Switzerland, met a ex-pat and they relocated to Costa Rica, where she was arrested by Interpol ten years later.

If you are interested in this story you can purchase the book on Amazon, it’s called “Duped” by Hallee and Russell Patterson.

The store’s Embezzlement is the next post.