In 2005, Martha Cunningham, 79, owned a $400,000 home in Bowie that was free and clear of a mortgage and she had two annuities valued at $61,000.

Today, Cunningham is a widow, virtually broke and saddled with debt.

Edward Scott Hanson, 39, from Pikesville, is the man responsible for Cunningham's financial woes. He is in a Charles County jail on unrelated charges and waiting transfer to Prince George's County to face charges of theft over $500, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud and exploitation of vulnerable adults.

He also faces up to 90 years in prison, according to Isabel Cumming, chief of the Economics Crime...