Legacy Matters

"He took pretty much all she had"

A doctor who works at Columbia Presbyterian scammed his 92-year-old mother out of nearly $1 million.

Minnie Motz, the mother who worked her whole life as a librarian never thought her Jewish doctor son would leave her virtually penniless and on the brink of eviction.

Son-Burned

Dr. Robin Motz, an internist took control of his mother's finances in 2003 because she was failing physically.

In 2004, when her husband, Lloyd Motz, died, Robin Motz moved his mother's investments from her Oppenheimer account to a Merrill Lynch account in his name, prosecutors said. He liquidated the investments, which had been in tax-free municipal bonds, and began writing checks to cover his credit-card bills, the Manhattan DA's Office charged.

He's now under indictment and faces 15 years in jail.

A woman with a West-Indian accent who picked up the phone at Minnie Motz's apartment would only say, "How would you feel? That's exactly how she feels!"