Missouri Man Charged With Defrauding Joplin Victims

A Nixa, Mo., contractor faces federal charges for allegedly stealing from elderly victims of last year’s Joplin tornado.

The Springfield News Leader reports that 57-year-old Terry Alton Parker has been charged in a 23-count indictment that was made public Friday. Federal prosecutors accuse Parker of stealing more than $73,000 from the bank account of the elderly Joplin couple who hired him to repair their home that was damaged in the May 2011 tornado.

Online court records don’t list a lawyer for Parker, who’s charged with six counts of bank fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, three counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of witness tampering.