Trial delayed for Mo. man accused of tornado fraud

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The trial has been delayed for a southwest Missouri man charged with defrauding victims of the Joplin tornado.

The Lebanon Daily Record reported that 66-year-old Jeffrey Wolfson is charged with six felony and two misdemeanor charges. His trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 15, but a Jasper County Circuit Court judge granted a request from prosecutors for a continuance last week.

His former wife, Gloria Schoeller, was sentenced over the summer to four years of probation. Prosecutors said Wolfson and Schoeller took about $38,000 of insurance money from three Joplin property owners without performing the promised repairs. The EF-5 tornado that hit Joplin on May 22, 2011, demolished a broad swath of the city and killed 161 people.

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Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com