UPDATE: Warrant for Chatfield man accused of financially exploiting vulnerable adult

(ABC 6 News) – A Chatfield man’s attorney requested that Olmsted County quash an arrest warrant for Bruce Amundson, claiming that he intended for Amundson to appear on Nov. 29, not Oct. 20.

However, the motion claims that Amundson was not summoned for the Nov. 29 hearing, and therefore he failed to appear at the still-scheduled Oct. 20 hearing and the warrant was mistakenly issued for his arrest.

DeVore filed a motion with Olmsted County Court Friday to quash the warrant.

Amundson reached out to ABC 6 News Friday, inaccurately claiming a warrant was never issued for his arrest.

According to attorney Kevin DeVore’s motion to quash the warrant, as well as Minnesota Court Records, the warrant was indeed issued for Amundson’s arrest and was still in effect the morning of Friday, Oct. 28.

The motion to quash the warrant is embedded below.

MCRO_55-CR-22-3346_Warrant Request via Correspondence_2022-10-28_20221028104130 by Anne Halliwell on Scribd

According to court documents publicly available on Minnesota Court Records Online, not one, but two warrants were issued for Amundson’s arrest, though one was quashed based on a misspelling of Amundson’s middle name shortly thereafter.

One of the warrants was issued Oct. 24, as reported by ABC 6 News.

That first warrant was officially quashed Oct. 26 based on the misspelling, and Olmsted County Court requested that a new warrant be issued.

According to Minnesota Court Records Online, a second warrant was issued Oct. 27, one day before Amundson contacted ABC 6 News.

The return of the first warrant, quashed on Oct. 26, was filed in Olmsted County Court Friday.

The second warrant was quashed on Monday, Oct. 31.

Amundson and his wife, Deborah Amundson, face six counts each of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

(ABC 6 News) – Olmsted County Court issued a warrant for one-half of a Chatfield couple accused of financially exploiting an older relative, after he failed to appear at a hearing Thursday.

Bruce and Deborah Amundson are accused of six counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, after the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center gave Olmsted County law enforcement evidence that Bruce Amundson, the victim’s power of attorney, transferred large sums of money from the elderly woman’s bank account into the Amundson’s account via check and electronic transfer.

According to court documents filed in May, the transfers date back to January 2018, shortly before the victim’s Lewy Body Dementia progressed to a point where the Amundsons placed her in a care home.

According to court documents, the transfers rendered the victim ineligible for Medical Assistance and her medical bills were unpaid since April 2021.

At the time the MAARC report reached local law enforcement, the victim had an outstanding bill of nearly $29,000 at the Rochester care facility, and the Amundsons’ transfers from her account into their own totalled just over $98,000 between Jan. 2018 and December 2020.

The Amundsons told law enforcement that the victim approved the transfers in exchange for their care.

Bruce Amundson failed to appear at a court hearing Oct. 20, and a warrant was issued for his arrest on Oct. 24.

Deborah Amundson, who is also accused of six counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 29.

No warrant has been issued for her arrest.

According to court documents, the transfer amounts were as follows:

January 2018 through June 2018: $20,957.15
July 2018 through December 2018: $10,000
January 2019 through June 2019: $34,334
July 2019 through December 2019: $1,500
January 2020 through June 2020: $10,500
July 2020 through December 2020: $20,900
The total amount of all the transfers is $98,191.15.