Milburn Jeffrey Brock and Janice Marie Tyler
Prince Frederick, MD – A man and woman who lived for approximately 10 years in a rented basement apartment in Calvert County are both facing multiple count indictments for allegedly stealing money from their landlord’s estate.
According to documents on file in the court system, the accused—identified as Milburn Jeffrey Brock, 48; and Janice Marie Tyler, 56, both of St. Leonard—were indicted by a Calvert County Grand Jury Aug. 15.
Among the 19 charges Brock faces are theft scheme $100,000 plus; conspiracy of a theft scheme $100,000 plus; obtaining a property from a vulnerable adult $100,000 plus.
Tyler’s indictment totals 24 counts and includes charges of theft scheme, conspiracy of a theft scheme, fraud, forgery and embezzlement.
According to court documents, the landlords Brock and Tyler allegedly stole money from were Loren and Terrye Zaremba. Loren Zaremba, a retired nuclear physicist, died in 2012. Terrye Zaremba passed away last November.
In April, Thomas Axley, the attorney handling Terrye Zaremba’s estate, contacted the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office when he detected the possibility of fraud involving the late couple’s financial affairs. One of the discrepancies involved the sale of the late couple’s Porsche and signatures that didn’t match ones on the vehicle’s title.
“Axley provided a copy of the bill of sale and vehicle title,” Detective Lord of the sheriff’s office stated in court documents. “I observed that the vehicle title was signed on Sept. 2, 2015 by what appears to be Terrye Zaremba. I observed that the bill of sale for the 2000 Porsche 911 was on a plain piece of paper also dated Sept. 2, 2015. I observed a signature of Loren A. Zaremba and a date of June 20, 2011 and the name Terrye Zaremba and address were underneath the signature. Axley stated that it appeared the signature of Terrye G. Zaremba on the title did not match the documents that he had on file with Zaremba’s signature on it. Axley provided me with a copy of a deed of trust from Jan. 27, 2005. I observed that the signatures did not match between the signatures for the deed of trust and the title.”
Lord further stated in court documents that the estate’s attorney told him “he was concerned that Brock was cashing forged checks linked to Zaremba’s [bank] account. Axley also stated that he had observed Janice Marie Tyler’s name as a power of attorney in Terrye Zaremba’s retirement account.”
As he got further into his investigation, Lord “observed several checks paid to Milburn Brock. Several of the checks written to Brock were after [Terrye] Zaremba had died.” Lord stated in court documents that one of the transactions was a check “written to and signed by Milburn Brock for the amount of $3,500. The date on [the] check was Dec. 18, 2015.” Detective Lord stated that the checks “that were written and cashed by Brock from Zaremba’s account totals $6,000.”
Both Brock and Tyler had initial appearances before a judge Aug. 18 and, according to a court summary, in both cases no bond was set. The state’s case against the pair is currently scheduled to go to trial in December.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
