When The Time Comes, I'll Know

0:10 There's an old saying that declares money isn't everything, but for some people, money is the only thing, and those people will go to great lengths to grab as much money as possible from any source available. In this story, a woman arrives in a small town and meets a generous older man. The man is a wealthy business owner and veteran who invested wisely in the stock market throughout his life. My uncle Vern was one of the greatest nicest guys I've ever met. Vern was a veteran from Lynchburg, Ohio. He grew up in the farming industry, but decided early in his life that he did not want to be a farmer. At twenty three years old, he moved to the town of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. Verne saw the potential for business in the town and loved the beauty of them mountains. As he grew up in southern Ohio, the most he ever saw was a hill, so the picturesque scenery took his breath away. Vern opened up a business called the Shimokan Equipment Company to help furnish the homes, bars, restaurants, and hotels in the area.

1:18 His business offered every and any item for home or bar, from kitchen appliances to air conditioners. Vern always sold the most up to date styles and his company did well. Then Vern began learning about the stock market and the best way to invest his money. He was very frugal, and he kept just enough money for his daily needs while investing the rest in the market. He also invested in some real estate in town, buying a three story apartment building. He chose to live on the third floor, where the view was better, and he rented out the two lower floors. Eventually, Vern owned a list of stocks that represented every letter of the alphabet. Letter A stood for his AT and T stock, of which he owned a whopping ten thy five hundred shares. He soon became a multi millionaire. Vern enjoyed his wealth and dated many ladies for different amounts of time. Whenever a romantic relationship ended, Vern always remained friends and stayed in contact by phone or an occasional dinner.

2:22 At one point, he was deeply in love with a woman in Shamokin and wanted to marry her. He even joined the local country club to get closer to her. Unfortunately, her father didn't like Vern, and that rejection ended the couple's relationship. Vern, now in his seventies, continued to run the Shamokin Equipment company while investing in stocks. One afternoon, a woman visited Vern's business to look into equipment she needed to redecorate the local hotel. Let's call the woman Rema. Vern helped Rema and gave her access to everything she needed. Hello, miss, welcome to Chimoku Equipment. How can I help you today? I need the furniture alrighty for your home. No, I am redecorating a hotel the places at dump. Okay, well, I've got a big selection of tables and chairs, barstools, anything you need. I don't want anything cheap. So the owner is paying. I don't really care how much it costs. We can charge him for whatever I buy. Okay, well, you should probably buy the best items for the needs of the hotel, not just the most expensive items. The best items are the most expensive ones he's paying, so let's charge him a lot of money. Okay, Well, let me show you what I have. After their first encounter, Rema befriended Verne and they go out to dinner, where he learned more

3:54 about her. This place is nice, Yeah, I think it's the best steakhouse in town. So tell me about yourself. Where are you from? I was born and raised in Lebanon. From when I was a girl, I always wanted to have money and be somebody. I got married to a mean man who hit me all the time. He forced me to get the job and earn money. I'm sorry I may have to interrupt here. Sometimes her husband wasn't abusive. Reema actually wasn't satisfied with the money he earned, and she chose to work and try to earn more. Well, he sounds like a real jerk. So what did you do for work? I worked in a restaurant. What kind of restaurant? A steakhouse restaurant? Actually, she was a lady of the night. She learned all the tricks of the trade and had other girls working for her. Her business venture was short lived as local police discovered the illegal activity. Luckily for Rema, someone informed her of the upcoming raid and she took all her money and any belongings she could carry to the local port. From there, she sailed off to the Venezuela, where she had a few relatives. I decided to go to Venezuela, and then I went to Mexico. That's a lot of traveling. What did

5:26 you do in Mexico? I worked at the border with the Red Cross. I was good with people. The Red Cross in Texas gave me a green car to help them. It was a six month visa. Then I decided to take a bus and live in Pennsylvania. Oh so you traveled from Texas to Shamokin. Yeah, I went straight to Shamokin. Why did you choose Shamokin? I uh, I liked the name of it. So here's the truth. Rema's visa expired and she bought a bus ticket headed east with the hope of getting lost in the huge population of New York City. She didn't make it to New York, though, she ran out of money by the time she reached Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. You know what, let me take it from here to explain her time in Pennsylvania. In Harrisburg, Rema took a job as a waitress in the local restaurant. She befriended a young man named John, who ate lunch at the restaurant every day, and the two were married not long after. The marriage lasted one month, as Rema left John because he didn't earn enough money for the lifestyle she wanted. She headed north on a bus and John never saw her again. He was granted a divorce A couple of years later, Rema landed in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and began working in the kitchen of a local hotel. Her job afforded her both a room and food. The situation was perfect, but she and the married hotel

6:58 owners started an affair. When the owner's longtime wife discovered her husband was cheating, Rema was asked to leave. Rema wasn't leaving quietly, though, She threatened to publicly expose the owner's infidelities, so he offered her fifteen thousand dollars to leave town. Rema was gone by the end of the day. For her next stop, Rema traveled to Wilkesbury, Pennsylvania, where she was hired to work in cold food storage at a hotel. Meanwhile, the local hotel in the nearby area of Shamokin was struggling and in need of help with reservations. The owner of the Jefferson Hotel then hired Rema to help cook and put the hotel on the map. She would end up doing more than that.

7:43 She lived in the hotel, ran the kitchen a dining room, and started working on redecorating the establishment, which takes us back to how she met vern. In case you're wondering how I know all Rema's backstory, I'll explain that later. Over time, Verne and Rema continued to have more dinners and got more acquainted. At one point, though, Rema became angry with Verne when he refused to let her buy her hotel needs on credit. I want to buy all this furniture on credit credit, Rema. I'm not comfortable with that. Why not? Don't be a pain? Verne. I don't accept credit. I never have what. You're being stupid, Arima. You're not being logical. Give me what I want. No, I can't do that.

8:33 You're being an idiot. Even without her furniture on credit, Rema continued to help popularize the Jefferson Hotel in her own way. She added upstairs card games for men, where she served them drinks and dessert. Conversations eventually started around including more than dessert. Rema suggested adding girls to the evening card games, some things she had passed experience in. Rema went into town and recruited girls, mostly teenagers to attend the evening events. She would approach girls on the street, Hey, do you need money? Are you looking for a job.

9:16 I can pay you a lot of money to come work into my hotel. Come with me, I'll give you a job. Prostitution in small towns is more common than people think, and it's often underreported. In the Journal of Sociology and Social Work, there was a report on prostitution in rural counties after interviews with law enforcement and social workers. The report mentions, quote our data hints that prostitution may be far more common than official statistics suggest. The report also details that often prostitution in rural areas can be an economic strategy to deal with unemployment and poverty in the region, but it can also be related to drug use. With some of the girls in the town working in the hotel started rolling in, Rema more or less served as the position of a pimp. Generally, pimps are men who control prostitutes and arrange sexual encounters while taking some of their earnings. Rema positioned herself as this type of nefarious agent.

10:16 Some of the prostitution money went into the hotel cash register, but most of it went into Rema's purse. Meanwhile, the owner of the hotel now had several new business ventures, and he moved his family away from Shimochen. He still visited the hotel when he could, and one afternoon he noticed a young woman leaning up against the side of the building. He asked what she was doing there, and she replied, I work here. Are you looking for a good time? The owner told the girl to leave, and he ran into the hotel to find Rema heiious. He fired Rema and ordered her to get out immediately. Rema snapped and started swinging, but didn't don't land any punches. She gathered her belongings and left the hotel, but not before giving the owner a piece of her mind. I made this hotel big.

11:09 I made a lot of money for you, you stupid king idiot. You I don't care if I use girls to bring in customers. It works. You are going to get pay for this, You'll see you. Reema broke into the hotel that same night and washed her clothes in the kitchen sink. The next morning, the owner found her sleeping on the banquet table with her clothes drying off. The owner called the police, who removed her from the building. She then reached out to Verne and fabricated a story about abuse at the hotel. What happened exactly? The owner he beat me up, He abused me. He punched me in the face. Well, luckily, it doesn't look like he hurt you at all. You don't have a black eye or any bruises. Oh no, I mean he punched me in the stomach.

12:03 Wow, that's terrible. I need to sue him, but they don't have any money. Oh, I can let you use my attorney and you can pay me back when you get back on your feet. What I am already on my feet. It's an expression. You can pay me back when you have money again. Okay. Vern wasn't usually a fan of just giving people money. He would always be open to lending money to anyone who asked, but he expected to be paid back. He disliked freeloaders who use people for money, but he would give people money in certain circumstances. At one point, his friend's mother needed surgery, and Vern gave him the money without question. That wasn't cheap. Vern's kindness, though, could be taken advantage of, and Rema was becoming well aware of this fact. Vern's attorney soon recognized Rema's abuse story for what it truly was, and he suggested she find another lawyer. Rema not only lied about abuse, she accused the owner of the hotel of being complicit in the prostitution. It took the owner ten years to fight her in court, and after one of the girls confessed that Rema was lying, the owner finally won his case, ending his nightmare. Meanwhile, Rema asked Fern for help with a place to live. Vern was very patriotic, though, and refused to grant one of his apartments to someone who wasn't a tax paying citizen. Verne, you have an apartment building. Let me live in one of the apartments, Rema. I can't let you live

13:35 there if you aren't paying your share in taxes. Taxes, I already left taxes. Who cares about taxes? Give me a place to live? No, not Texas, I'm talking about paying your just Let me reach out to my friend Betty. Who's Betty. She's my friend. She might have a place for you. Good. Reach out to Betty. Contacted at Betty, who owned a large home with fare rooms. Betty agreed to let Riema rent a room, not long after, Rema started to notice Erne's possessions. Vern owned a nice car and he generally dressed well. Once a year he would travel to New York and buy silk ties and monogram shirts. Rema soon realized that Vern was wealthy and had no family in Shamokin. That's when Vern became her new target. Vern, you don't have any family in Shamokin. No, No, most of them are in Ohio. Huh. I saw you have a nice car. Thanks, it's a Cadillac, my favorite kind of car. I think they're really well made. Expensive. Yeah, it's not a cheap car. Vern. Do you have a lot of money? Huh, I don't like to talk about those things. You spend money in the stock markets? Oh? Yes, I love investing and finding great stocks.

14:58 You can teach me. Sure, I can give you some tips. Make me rich like you. Huh. After realizing Verne was wealthy, Rima then noticed that he paid a couple to clean his apartment, and she decided to try to take their jobs. The closer she could get to Erne's money, the better. Vern. Those people that clean your apartments do a bad, bad job. Really, they always seem very efficient to me. No, I am more effishing. Hire me to clean and I'll cook for you too. You know I am a good cook. Well, I wouldn't mind a hot meal. You can give me money each week and I'll buy you food.

15:41 Okay, I'll pay you once a week and give you money for my groceries. Yes, hire me all right. Outside of Verne, the people of Shimoke and weren't welcoming to Rema. Some folks were just racist and didn't like her accent, while others were aware of her misdeeds and prostitution at the hotel. She still determined, though, to get something out of any of the small town folks that she can do. She already victimized the hotel owner, some of the girls in the area, and was working on vern but there was more bilking to be done. Next up were the generous and kind folks of Shimokin. As Rema was now settled in Betty's home and working for Verne, she devised a plan to get her sister and two nephews into the United States from Lebanon. Rema started to cry around certain people in town, who then offered to console her. She complained about missing her family and being unable to afford to bring them to the US. As more people around town heard her story, a group of them decided to help and gathered a fund.

16:44 Betty agreed to renovate the upstairs of her home where Rema lived, adding a kitchenette and another bathroom. The people in town used the fund to pay for the construction, and when complete, Rema's sister and her two sons arrived in town and moved in. The boys then enrolled in the local high school. Vern had a soft spot for the boys and agreed to help out. Reema would help out in her own way. She took half the food that she purchased for Vern each week, using his money, of course, and gave it to her sister and nephews. Have you seen my cereal? No? What about the milk? Didn't you just go shopping? You drank it all? I don't think so. You don't remember. I don't think you bought any You're just confused, Vern, I'm not confused enough. When Vern turned seventy eight years old, he decided to finally sell his business to a loyal employee of seventeen years, for no longer had the stamina to run the business and the way he demanded of himself. The Shimokan Equipment company was now under new ownership. At this point, Vern's eyesight was failing and he had several minor car accidents which sent his insurance skyrocketing. Rema offered to be his chauffeur. If Verne needed to depend on her for transportation, she would have even more control over him. She of course, needed to learn to drive first, Vern, I shall drive you around. You can't drive good anymore.

18:15 Mm. Yeah, my eyes aren't what they used to be. But you don't even know how to drive. So find someone to show me how. Let me see what I can do. Find someone Vern. So another request from Rima from Vern, who was kindly accommodating as usual, His friend and the police department agreed to teach Rima to drive, and she received her license. She then offered to drive for Vern, but she also wanted more. Okay, I have my license now, so I can drive you. That's really great, congratulations, Rema. You need to let me move in now? Move in? Yes? Uh? You want to live with me? Yes? Let me sleep on the couch? Well yes, um, yes, okay yes. At this point, Rema had wormed her way completely into Vern's life by taking advantage of his kind nature. He depended on her for food, transportation, and now she was literally in his home, which gave her access to him and his possessions. Twenty four to seven, while living in Vern's home, Rema asked him again to give her advice about the stock market. Vern, what stock should I buy? Well, you should look for companies that you think have a real future. What companies you have to research and read about them? Communication companies are good. Everyone needs to communicate. But what company I've made money from? AT and T stock?

19:41 Okay, I'll buy that. Well, it's in expensive stock. You need to spend a lot of money to buy anything substantial. Okay, I spend a lot of money. I'm not sure you have enough. I'm talking thousands and thousands. Don't worry, I have money. Rema then began buying her own stock using Verne's money and any of his guidance. She discovered the combination of his safe and in it he had ninety five thousand dollars in bearer bonds. Reema took one bearer bond worth five thousand dollars, assuming Vern, but never noticed he never did. She had no clue what to do with the bond, so she reached out to a local attorney. She Liden said that Vern gave it to her and asked how she could cash it. She then deposited the bond into her bank account. A bear bond is a physical certificate with coupons attached that are used to redeem the interest payments. As the ownership is not registered, the owner of a bear bond is simply the person in possession of it. Because of this, bear bonds are as vulnerable as cash to being stolen. Bear bonds are now virtually extinct in the US because the lack of registration made them ideal for use in money laundering, tax evasion, and in this case, theft. Over the next several years, Vern unfortunately suffered constant loss of fail. First, his nephew passed away, two years later, his brother in law passed away, and two years after that his sister passed away. Nevertheless, Verne still enjoyed calling and seeing his remaining family on holidays. One summer, my mom and my family visited Vern in Shimokin.

21:17 He welcomed us with open arms and a big smile. He pulled pictures of our children from his desk stoer and named each one of them. That's Kristen. There's Michael. His name's Jeff. Hello, h Rema. This is my housekeeper, cook and driver. Rema. Hello, nice to meet you. Come eat. I have dinner for everyone. Rema seemed kind and she prepared a delicious dinner for us. She was a very good cook. Vern was in good spirits and he sang an Irish song and his beautiful tenor voice. Just two years later, Vern was unfortunately aging quickly, both physically and mentally. He had trouble walking and could only climb the stairs to his own apartment once a day. On Vern's ninetieth birthday, our family visited him in Shamokin. We asked Rema if we could invite some of Verne's friends, but her response was that they were all either dead or just wanted his money.

22:14 After our visit, I mentioned to Rema to please contact us if he was ever in need of anything at all. Six months later, Verne entered the Shamokin hospital. No diagnosis was confirmed, but the first actor who examined him thought it was the flu. My mom and I wanted to see Vern, so we called Rema. Hello, No, don't come to visit. Vern is back from the hospital and doing better. Anyway, don't come here. Whenever we called to speak with Vern, Rema gave an excuse. Hello, No, he can't talk. He's sleeping. I don't want to wake him. Hello, No, he can't talk. His teeth are out.

22:59 He's embarased. We kept calling and calling Vern, but received no contact from him. Rema was definitely trying to get us out of the picture. After many unanswered calls, Rema finally called back and informed us that Vern was in the Via Hospital in Washington, d C. Rema purchased an expensive home in nearby Alexandria and traveled there every weekend. At this point, Rema's sister and nephews moved to Philadelphia, where the boys started college. With practically no contact from Rema, my mom and I decided to drive to the Via Hospital in Washington to find out what was going on. When we arrived at the hospital, we were informed that Vern was no longer there and that they were unaware of where he currently resided. We asked the hospital to reach out to Rema to find out where Verne was located. Hello, where's Vern? Who's asking?

23:51 No, don't tell them where he is, with Rema refusing to give us Verne's location, We called around to local nursing homes to see if we could find him. We eventually did on our fourth try. We made arrangements with the nursing home to see him. When we visited Vern, he looked unhealthy and unfortunately couldn't remember who we were. Hi, thanks so much for visiting me. I can't recall your names right now? Where do I know you ladies from? After about ten minutes, Rema came bursting in, Oh, you should have told me you were coming. I would have made a party. I take the two of you to lunch. We agreed, accepted her insincerity. During lunch, Rema discussed a new will that Vern supposedly wrote but hadn't signed yet. Rema mentioned that she's waiting for Vern to have a lucid day so he could sign a new will. Vern said he needed to change his will. He thought it was old and it needed to be more new, but after he wrote it, he forgot to se I'll make sure he signs it when he remembers again. Attempts to forge wills sent her around three strategies. First, there's the invalid signature where the person photocopies, traces or handwrites the person's name on the will. Second, there's the invalid witness, where either a fake witness is used or their signatures for us as well.

25:23 Third, there's the lack of capacity, where the will is signed by the person but they are not of sound mind for it to be legal. After lunch, Rema gave us a tour of her luxurious Alexandria home. She spent four hundred thousand dollars of Verne's money on the home. We learned that the cost just for the landscaping in the backyard was thirty five thousand dollars a year. She spoke about how she cared for vern when he got sick and put him in the car with a pillow under his head and a blanket because he wanted to go to the VA in Washington. Rema then drove us throughout Washington, DC. She said that Verne wanted a new car, so she traded in his Cadillac for the most current model. As he was stuck in the nursing home, it didn't make any sense that he even cared about a new car at that point. She drove way too fast and came within inches of hurt in other cars. I can't imagine poor Vernon having to endure her insane driving. After the white knuckle driving tour, Rema dropped us off at our motel. Before exiting the car, Rema explained the current money situation vern Ene me, we have lots of money. Just tell me how much you want to go away and they'll write you a check or give you a stock.

26:42 My mom and I were infuriated by this offer. I informed Rema that we have never asked our uncle for money and never will. We exited the car, slamming the doors. Rema then tried again to offer Vern's money to my mom. How about you just tell me how much you want. There is greed in everybody. My mom looked her in the eyes and explained, well, there's not greed in me. Rema began to drive off, then slowed down to look at us in disbelief. After realizing we weren't changing our minds about taking any money, she sped away. We told Reema that we were heading home the following day, but instead decided to return to the nursing home the next morning to fully evaluate what was going on with Verne. We entered Erne's room and found him sleeping. As soon as I said his name, his eyes opened wide and he smiled. The orderly entered and I asked if Ern could be brought into the visiting area. The orderly opened nearby drawers so Verne could get dressed, but we discovered he had no clothes. The Orderly said that Verne could borrow some from his roommate, like he has in the past. Vern also didn't have any glasses to see with or teeth to eat with. We were furious about Verne's lack of care and wondered how cruel can Reema be to this man who always helped her. After Vern was brought into the visitors area, we started to speak with his doctor. We informed the doctor that we were relatives from out of state and that our uncle was ill and being taken advantage of. The doctor interviewed Vern, who was confused

28:14 by his questions because of his progressing Alzheimer's disease. We told the doctor that Verne needed a guardian to start looking out for his best interests. I asked the doctor to write up a document about Vern's needs in order to show something to an attorney or judge. The doctor agreed and wrote a message about Vern's condition. We thanked the doctor and returned to our attention to Vern. We took Vern in his wheel chair over to the window and pointed out some puppies playing near by. He smiled and acknowledged the puppies. We eventually leave and Vern was placed next to another gentleman he befriended at the nursing home. The following day, we traveled to Shimokun to attempt to become the legal guardians for Vern. Rema was contacted and informed of our plans. A month later, Vern was suddenly violently ill and vomiting at the nursing home. The doctor explained to us that Vern had some sort of fluid in him that was making him sick, but no one could figure out the cause. Vern was placed on a ventilator and ten days later he sadly passed away. I think it may have been arsenic poisoning, but I have no proof. Vern always wanted to leave most of his estate to charities and the poor, but we discovered that Vern's new will that he supposedly signed now gave all of his money and property to Rima. We didn't buy this for a second and decided to contest the will. The doctors at the Via Hospital wanted to have an autopsy performed on Vern, but Rima had control over his body via the will and adamantly refused.

29:49 Our attempt to contest the will was a long process that took nine months. We won in the lower court, but then had to fight Rima's appeal. Our attorney hired a detective to investigate Rima, so that's when we discovered her extensive, sordid history that I detailed earlier. During the time we were battling Rema in court, she spent all of Evern's money on land in Virginia. She bought a farm for eight hundred and sixty five thousand dollars, of building for a million dollars, which she named the Rema Building, and twenty houses throughout the state. We finally won our contest of the will, but at that point Rema had spent any money Verne had left. Eventually, though all of Rema's properties were foreclosed, she had a problem making payments so long Rema Building. Rema said in the past that she wanted to have money and be somebody. Well. She got her money, but the only somebody she became was an opportunist who stole a kind old man's fortune and built the generous people in a small town. Anyone Rima met was always left worse off after she took anything and everything she could from them. She took advantage of anyone kind or generous, and people like her are the reason there's a cynical saying, no good deed goes unpunished. Even though Verne has passed away, my family and I won't stop fighting for his memory. Vern never wanted to allow freeloaders into his life, but as he aged and mentally declined, his defenses were unfortunately down. I hope his story serves as a cautionary tale to people

31:21 in the future who may have a similar situation with a loved one. There's sadly Arima in every town, and the good people out there need to watch out for the bad people like her. Allegedly is a production of Voyage Media. The series is produced by Nat Mandel, Albertmidas, and Dan Benimore. This episode, When the Time Comes I'll Know, was written, produced, and directed by Jason Cheney, based on the books When the Time Comes, I'll Know and The Trail of Greed leads to black Letter Law by Sally Burns, currently available on Amazon. A link is in the show notes, starring Jerome Saint Jerome as Verne, and Ali Chan Asrima. Original music by Derlis Gonsales, edited sound design and mixed by John Higgins. If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts or anywhere you're listening, and subscribe now for future episodes