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Bank official sparks investigation into suspect who took advantage of lonely widower

Ashley Nicole Lawson
Ashley Nicole Lawson

A suspicious Leesburg bank official sparked an investigation which has led to the arrest of a woman suspected of taking advantage of a lonely 78-year-old widower.

A representative of the United Southern Bank located on County Road 44 in Leesburg contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in October regarding a series of checks written by the man, who is a bank customer. When a deputy met with the bank employee and the elderly man, the deputy was handed a stack of canceled checks which the bank representative thought may be evidence that the man had been the victim of a fraud.

The elderly man said he was approached by 36-year-old Ashley Nicole Lawson about two years ago at a Publix in Eustis. Lawson told the man that she was pregnant and homeless. He gave her a five dollar bill and she asked for his phone number, in case she needed help in the future. He gave her his cell phone number. He told the deputy that he was contacted by Lawson two weeks later and she told him that she had given birth and put the baby up for adoption. She said she needed a place to stay, so the man paid to put her up in a hotel for two nights.

The man told the deputy that his wife of many years died and he felt lonely and depressed. He believed that Lawson had played on his emotions to get him to write checks to her on false pretenses. Lawson had told the victim that she needed money for college expenses, but the bank had checked and determined that Lawson had never been enrolled in college. The deputy gave the victim a fraud packet to complete and told him that he would forward a report to the state attorney.

On Oct. 18, the deputy made a followup call to the victim who said Lawson was again asking for money. She told him that she had an accident with the car he had bought her. A man called the victim and told him he  needed to pay $600 to release the vehicle from a towing company. The victim was emailed a copy of the car’s title which had his name on it. The man purportedly representing the towing company threatened the elderly man, claiming that if he didn’t pay $600 that day, he would owe $6,000 the next day. The victim knew his name was never on the title. The victim also told the deputy that Lawson had taken a gold bracelet valued at $2,000 that had belonged to his deceased wife. The deputy was able to find evidence that Lawson had pawned the bracelet at Value Pawn in Leesburg for $100.

The victim had given Lawson more than $110,000, as well as the car valued at $12,500.

The victim texted Lawson indicating that he would meet with her at a Walmart parking lot in Mount Dora. The deputy planned on interviewing Lawson at that time. However, the victim received a text from Lawson indicating she had spotted two deputies. She asked him why he had the cops after her. She texted, “I thought we were in love. You gave me all that money.” She texted him that the only way he could regain her trust was to “open a joint bank account with her name on it.”

He agreed to meet with Lawson at the United Southern Bank in Leesburg on Dec. 22. The deputies surprised her when they appeared and asked to speak with her. She admitted to pawning the bracelet for $100. She claimed she was in a dating relationship with the victim. The victim admitted that he had been in a sexual relationship with Lawson, who performed oral sex on him as recently as that day.

Lawson was placed under arrest and was charged with exploitation of the elderly, grand theft from a person 65 years age or older, dealing in stolen property and false verification of ownership to a pawn broker. She was booked at the Lake County Jail on $55,000 bond.

Lawson was convicted of grand theft in 2021 and retail theft in 2019.

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