Alatini Saulala, 37, is charged with with three counts of financial elder abuse and two counts of grand theft, all felonies.
“He goes door to door saying, ‘I see your trees are overgrown, do you need them trimmed?’” said Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Lisa Poll. “He was not a licensed contractor at the time.”
Saulala, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, is accused of fleecing four residents, ranging in age from 77 to 94, who have dementia, Alzheimer’s and failing memory.
The most serious allegation involves a 77-year-old woman from Carmel Valley who paid Saulala $50,000 during a six-month period for tree work that Poll said should have cost about $5,000.
LighthouseAvenue
From Minnie's Ditch To John's Ditching
