A 60-year-old man will be sentenced next month for defrauding his 90-year-old mother out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving her penniless and heartbroken before her death.

David Klimitz was convicted on June 30 of theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000. Over three years, he depleted the life savings of his mother, Markham resident Royale Klimitz, forcing her to leave her retirement home.

“I will be forever haunted by the memory of the look of horror on my mother’s face when she saw the balance on her TD account was $14.54,” Royale’s other son Ron Klimitz said in a victim impact statement he prepared for the sentencing.

“Not only had her worst nightmare and fear come true, [but also] it was done by someone she trusted and loved—her son.”

According to the judge, Royale Klimitz and her husband Solomon were “decent, hardworking people who worked their entire lives.”

“Sol worked as a pharmacist and Royale was a stay-at-home mom who raised her three children… they led a frugal life. They seldom spent any money on themselves. They did everything they could, however, to help their children and help them financially.”

Watch Ron Klimitz read his victim impact statement below. Mobile users, click here.

Solomon Klimitz died in July 2007 of health issues. At that time, Royale Klimitz become the sole owner of all the couple’s accounts, worth $557,000. She trusted and relied on her son David, who had power of attorney, to look after her finances.

Between August 2007 and December 2010, David Klimitz stole the funds in his mother’s TD account for his own investment purposes. He redirected monthly statements that were previously sent to his mother to another address so she would not find out.

It wasn’t until June 2010, five months after the cash ran out, that Royale Klimitz’s other two children realized their mother’s accounts were emptied and she was five months behind on payments to the retirement home.

She left the residence, moved in with her daughter, and decided to use some of her small pension income to pay back the retirement home, saying it was the right thing to do. Later she moved into a public long-term care facility.

Police launched an investigation and Royale Klimitz gave two video statements before passing away in 2014.

“Throughout this process, I was witness to my mother’s rapid decline in health and in spirit,” Ron Klimitz said.

“Her will to live was lost and replaced with one of fear and anxiety. I truly believe that she died of fear and a broken heart and would have lived a lot longer had David’s actions never taken place. I’ll never understand why my brother did this to my mother, a woman who was there for him and supported him during all his problems. Her reward for this was his betrayal, something she would go to her grave wondering why.

“I do not get any pleasure at the thought of my brother in jail. I never wished to be in this position. However I do feel that it’s important he is removed from society and spend time in a jail so he can truly understand what his actions have done. And to send a message to the community that elder abuse will not be tolerated in our society.

“Throughout this trial the real victim has been my mom to whom David has shown no remorse at all. And yet her final words to David via video statement are, ‘I still love David.’”

David Klimitz’s sentencing is set for Sept. 30

Advice for designating a power of attorney

1) Designate two people.

“If you need a power of attorney, get it with two people and two people from opposite sides of the family, hopefully that don’t like each other. Then they won’t allow the other one to do anything. You need to have a backup system.”

—Lori Klimitz, daughter-in-law of Royale Klimitz

2) Do it while you’re sound of mind.

“If you are thinking about giving a power of attorney, or having your parents give a power of attorney, you should do it while they’re sound of mind because what you don’t want to have happen is where there is a dispute as to whether or not the person granting that power of attorney has the capacity to do so or if they were unduly influenced.”

—Dan Bank, lawyer

3) Set restrictions.

“Notify your banks, your financial advisers, anybody that is handling your money that there is a power of attorney and… you can put restrictions on the power of attorney itself. So to say I don’t want the power of attorney to do A, B, C such as I want you to pay for a child’s schooling or you can take out X amounts of money to do these things to take care of mortgage payments etc.”

—Dan Bank, lawyer