Barrington man accused of stealing almost $2M from elderly relative seeks to have case dismissed

Attorneys for a former Barrington business owner accused of stealing almost $2 million from an elderly Cary relative said prosecutors misled the grand jury that indicted him.

Douglas R. Boncosky, 54, of Barrington, has been charged with two Class X felonies of aggravated identity theft against a person older than 60, as well as theft of more than $1 million, McHenry County court records show. He also was charged with financial exploitation of a person older than 60 and forgery, according to the indictment.

Boncosky, who is being held in jail ahead of his trial, has had his accounts frozen, his attorney said.

Prosecutors violated Boncosky’s “due process rights by not eliciting testimony at the grand jury as to the age of the victim, and that would be necessary to return a bill of indictment for charges of aggravated identity theft and financial exploitation of an elderly person,” Boncosky’s attorney Matthew Haiduk said in his motion seeking to have the charges dismissed.

Prosecutors told the grand jury that the now 81-year-old was older than 70 during the years Boncosky allegedly made transfers from their accounts and into his business and personal accounts, but proof of their age was not shown, Haiduk argued in his motion.

“The state presented no evidence of age of the purported victim in the case,” Haiduk said in the motion.

Prosecutors said in their response that they “did not mislead the jury, offer perjured or false testimony or provide inaccurate testimony. The defendant’s actual argument is that they find the evidence presented at the grand jury hearing to be insufficient, which cannot be a basis for a motion to dismiss at this point.”

The response written by Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Neubauer also said that since Boncosky is a relative, he “would be aware of [their] age.”

Haiduk argued that the state “deliberately” misled the grand jury in not presenting “any evidence” regarding the “scope of the power of attorney” Boncosky held.

Prosecutors said the grand jury testimony included that Boncosky was given power of attorney and authority by the relative over “discretionary decision-making.”

The state’s motion listed what Boncosky did have authority over, including real estate transactions, financial institution transactions and stock and bond transactions. The power of attorney did not include the authority to act for them and in their name, according to the motion.

Prosecutors also said the relative was interviewed and said they “did not give defendant permission to use this money for himself or his business.”

The relative, who resides in an assisted-living facility, gave power of attorney to Boncosky on July 27, 2016, according to the motions.

Prosecutors allege that Boncosky committed the alleged offenses from about Aug. 1, 2019, through Aug. 21, 2023.