This Elderly Autistic Man Was Conned Out Of Nearly $2 Million Dollars: Now, His Neighbor Is Asking The Community For Help As He Rebuilds His Life
New Orleans, Louisiana. Erica Dudas has organized a GoFundMe to help Lawrence Mopsik rebuild his life after falling victim to a despicable con woman.
Mopsik is an elder man with autism who grew up in Broadmoor, New Orleans. Back in 2015, both of his parents, unfortunately, passed away.
But, they had established a trust fund in Mopsik’s name which included their property and inheritance money. Mopsik’s parents wanted him to live a stable and free life without worry.
“But, the universe had other plans,” wrote Dudas, “When I met Lawrence in 2017, he was disheveled, dirty, uncared for, and always seemed really nervous. But, he loved my animals and had a cat of his own– so we started talking.”
Dudas would cook meals for Mopsik, watch football games with him, pick up his groceries, and go on outings with him.
As Mopsik’s neighbor, Dudas felt responsible for caring for him. Still, she had no idea the kind of trouble that Mospik was in.
“From 2017 to 2019, my feelings about Lawrence grew from concern to alarm, but he wouldn’t tell me what was going on,” Dudas said.
When she would ask Mopsik about his caretakers, he would shut down. Then, as 2019 reached its end, Mopsik’s physical and mental health took a significant downturn.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Lawrence Mopsik
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It was around this time when he finally opened up to Dudas.
“He described how much trouble he was in, how his bank account was empty, and how two lawyers were fighting over him,” Dudas wrote, “With the help of some friends, I did research which confirmed my worst fears.”
After Mopsik’s parents passed, Kristina Sawicki Galjour introduced herself to Mopsik as a lawyer. She had worked at Metairie law firm, which dealt with Mopsik’s property. While Mopsik was still grieving the loss of his parents, Galjour promised to take care of him. Well, Galjour ended up being a con artist who possessed several different aliases.
“Galjour quickly established herself as Lawrence’s power of attorney. Over time, she conned him out of his entire inheritance (nearly $2 million), coerced him to donate his grandparents’ home to her for no money, created a $65,000+ tax debt by taking large amounts from accounts, and got him into massive credit card debt,” Dudas explained.
Mopsik felt so broken. His health was declining rapidly, all of his bills were backed up, and he was often without food. He even told Dudas that he wished he was not alive.
Galjour ended up using Mopsik’s money to fund “lavish New Orleans parties, sponsor LSU football player’s families’ entire travel budget, vacations, membership dues, cars, dogs, artwork, and more.” Mopsik even had a Jaguar registered under his name; he does not drive.
“Galjour was flying high in New Orleans’ wealthy social circles, spending money Lawrence’s parents worked so hard to save for him so he would be safe after they passed,” wrote Dudas, “He will never get that money back from her. For Lawrence, every day became more devastating than the last.”
Finally, in December of 2019, Mopsik reported Galjour. After investigators pieced together this horrendous crime, Galjour was arrested and charged. Still, he will not recover any of his lost money in the near future.
“Galjour is sentenced to twenty years and was ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution to Lawrence. While that sounds like justice, she spent the entirety of Lawrence’s money.
So, in order to get restitution, small amounts will be garnished from her paycheck when she is free and gainfully employed,” wrote Dudas.
In the meantime, Mopsik is in serious need of funds to support himself now. Following this criminal mismanagement of Mopsik’s money, all donations to the GoFundMe will go directly into a Special Needs Trust. This will ensure that any recovered assets of Mopsik’s cannot end up in the wrong hands again.
With a goal of seventy-five thousand dollars, the community has so far donated just shy of fifty-thousand dollars to Mopsik’s cause.
All of these funds will go towards paying off his property taxes, purchasing new clothes, completing home repairs, purchasing diabetic-friendly foods, paying for utility bills, and keeping up with the never-ending costs of caregiving.
“As the mother of an autistic child, this especially infuriates me! Thank you so much for doing the right thing, taking care of him and trying to make things right for him,” wrote Ivy Lin, who donated twenty dollars.
“You didn’t deserve what happened to you and I am praying for your healing and happiness. Sending love and light your way, Lawrence. Thank you, Erica!” wrote Mary Legendre, who donated one hundred dollars.
Both Mopsik and Dudas are incredibly thankful for all of the donations thus far.
“Thank you for your time, your prayers and your love. I hope you will pass this GoFundMe on and consider contributing,” Dudas wrote.
If you would like to contribute to Mopsik’s cause, you can visit the GoFundMe link here. Dudas has also prepared a Target Wishlist full of household items and pet care supplies which are not covered by Mopsik’s food stamps. You can visit that list here.
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