NEWBURYPORT — Benjamin E. Wolff, 79, and his wife, Jane, 72, did well enough in life to purchase a home 15 years ago in the picturesque Cape Cod community of Yarmouth.
And by accounts from those who have met them, they appeared to embody all the characteristics of the happily retired couple with old stories to tell and pictures of grandchildren to brag about.
As the duo hopped from inn to inn last summer in Rockport, proprietors never guessed the two elderly folks who preferred old-fashioned paper checks to plastic were anything other than what they presented themselves to be.
But then their good old-fashioned checks began to bounce, leaving unsuspecting merchants and hoteliers out of luck and aghast to have been swindled by such a sweet, elderly couple.
As the Wolffs stood before District Court Judge Peter Doyle yesterday morning at their arraignment on multiple counts of larceny and fraud, a trail of deceits was unraveling, and their strange story was making headlines across the region.
According to reports by Newburyport police Detective Jason Kohan, aside from racking up thousands in unpaid hotel bills and bounced checks in Concord and Rockport, the elderly couple spent one whirlwind month in Newburyport, arriving at the Market Street Inn on Sept. 11 and leaving the establishment one month later with an unpaid bill of $1,300.
Like at the inns they took for hundreds of dollars elsewhere, their ruse started with a small outlay of cash for one week's stay, followed by a large check that would never clear their bank. After that, a credit card was presented to pay the bill, along with grandiose claims that millions of dollars tied up in bank transfers was to blame for the denial, but that card would later be denied as well and the balance unpaid.
Police said the couple also bilked several merchants in the area out of cash by writing two bad checks to Leary's Wine and Spirits to purchase bottles of wine and alcohol, and to Hairport Salon on Water Street, where proprietor Joyce Trout styled, permed and colored Jane Wolff's hair and was ultimately left with two rubber checks.
Trout is still stunned over what's happened.
"I've been in the industry for roughly 40 years, and I've owned salons for about 35 of those years, and I have to say that it's only happened three times," said Trout of being left with two bad checks for services she provided to Jane Wolff in October. "But never was it an elderly person. She seemed like a really nice lady. If I had to judge her personality, she was just a nice, honest lady."
Trout said Wolff told her she and her husband were moving to Newburyport and were working with a real estate agent to find a new house to live in. Wolff told her they had looked at a house for sale on Water Street, but found it unsuitable. Wolff even told Trout she had inquired about getting a job at the Plum Island Reservation. Her husband, Benjamin, was a doctor who worked from home, she said.
That was one of many different fictional lines of work the couple created for Benjamin and for themselves.
At their arraignment last Friday in Concord on charges of defrauding an innkeeper, it wasn't clear whether the couple lived in Wayland, Hingham or Concord. Actually, the couple hail from Yarmouth Port, and recordst show they filed bankruptcy in 2005. Their attorney, Frances Doran of Natick, declined to comment yesterday, but intimated they're not the "big bad Wolffs" they're being portrayed as in the media.
"All I can say is, to this point in their lives, they both led very productive, responsible lives, and the intention is to resolve this thing in the most favorable way possible," Doran said. "As you can imagine, it's a difficult situation for all concerned."
According to the police report, Jane Wolff's son, Andrew Wheeler, has been informed of his parents' situation by police, and he initially agreed to cover the debt accrued by his mother and stepfather. But Wheeler rescinded that offer later on the advice of his attorney. "He stated that he has been paying back people for what Mr. and Mrs. Wolff have done for years," wrote Kohan. "He said this has been an ongoing issue for a few years."
For her part, Trout isn't expecting to get her money back, and aside from feeling foolish for trusting the Wolffs, she feels a bit bad that an elderly couple could be moved to such deceptive behavior.
Trout provided $197 worth of services to Wolff on two separate occasions.
"The first check came back bad, and I called her cell phone," said Trout, who was expecting to see Jane Wolff for another appointment that afternoon.
"I'm sure you have a good reason, and I have no problem with it," Trout recalled telling her.
But instead of Jane Wolff calling her back, Trout got a call from a very convincing Benjamin Wolff, who told Trout that the banks had mixed up the couple's accounts and that he had plenty of money.
"He sounded very prominent and intelligent without seeing him, and I was fine with that," Trout said. "I'm a very trusting person, so I was fine with it.
"They are a team," said Trout yesterday, laughing as she recalled the way they worked together to convince her to spend additional time with Jane Wolff. "Who would think that of an old lady?"
Benjamin Wolff is facing two counts of defrauding an innkeeper over $100, as well as one count of larceny by check over $250 and two counts of larceny by check under $250. Jane Wolff is being charged with one count of larceny by check under $250. Both were released on their own recognizance yesterday and will face a pretrial hearing on Feb. 11.
