HOUGHTON COUNTY, Mich. – A Michigan man was sentenced in connection to embezzling more than $130,000 from an elderly woman he had befriended while selling her cars over the years, officials said.
Jason Heikkinen, 47, of Dollar Bay, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, met the woman while working at a car dealership in the Houghton area.
They developed a friendship over the years, and when a financial institution stopped handling the woman’s bills after she was placed in a nursing home, Heikkinen became her conservator.
State police say the woman had no family nearby, and Heikkinen managed her money for a small fee.
Heikkinen allegedly took advantage of this role, and put her house and portfolio in his name.
The car salesman also sold the elderly woman’s personal property.
The embezzling came to light when a bank manager noticed that the woman’s account quickly went from $70,000 to almost nothing.
State police say the bank manager notified them, which prompted an investigation.
Investigators learned that Heikkinen sold the woman’s property and spent more than $130,000 of her funds without permission.
On Feb. 24, 2025, Heikkinen was sentenced to 180 days in jail on the charge of embezzling from a person in a relationship of trust with a vulnerable adult and given credit for one day served.
Heikkinen must serve 89 days immediately. He will serve the rest of the sentence if he violates probation, which he was sentenced to 24 months of.
He was also ordered to pay $179,250 in restitution.
