Twenty people have claimed in court George Joseph, facing a trial this summer for the slayings of his wife and son, defrauded them of more than $500,000 in total, court documents show.

The claimants stated in court papers they are entitled to the deceased victims' estates because "upon information and belief, the totality of the Joseph family wealth and remaining assests were funded with money ill-gotten through fraud perpetuated on the claimants ..."

The documents show a claim against the estates of Joseph's deceased wife, Mary Joseph, and son, Matthew Joseph, for a total of $523,334.62. Joseph, 48, is accused of killing Mary and Matthew before turning the gun on himself in an apparent suicide attempt in May 2013 at their home on West Cape Rock Drive in Cape Girardeau, court records show.

A short time after the shootings, Joseph told a Cape Girardeau detective he had been despondent over financial issues, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed in the murder case.

The claim, involving 20 individuals represented by Cape Girardeau attorney John D. Ryan, states the money stems "from losses related to the George Joseph Family Investment Club."

The amounts claimed by each individual range from $1,100 to $135,000. One claimaint is from Illinois and another is from Tennessee; the rest are from Missouri.

The claim, filed electronically Oct. 29, 2013, states "the fraud, referred to in recent months as a Ponzi scheme, may well have affected even the heirs of the estate, and the estate should not benefit by that fraud without restitution to those that funded the Joseph family wealth."

Ryan declined to comment for this story.

No charges of fraud have been filed against Joseph. A spokeswoman for the FBI said agents provided assistance to the local prosecutor and referred all questions to Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh's office. When reached by phone, Limbaugh said he was not comfortable commenting on potential investigation due to the ongoing murder trial.

A Scott County detective said in 2013 he had interviewed Joseph earlier that year while investigating an unrelated case, and Joseph told him he had been making online investments for about 60 members of an investment club.

Authorities spoke with Joseph in 2013 about a case involving Keith Monia, who is charged with several counts of forgery and financial exploitation of the elderly. A check for $100,000 in that case was made out to Joseph, apparently at the instruction of Monia, with the words "investment loan" on the memo line, according to a probable-cause statement filed in that case.

Monia led the woman, then 81, to believe she was paying for an annuities plan through American Equity Investment Life Insurance Co., Detective Branden Caid of the Scott County Sheriff's Department wrote in the affidavit.

The woman who wrote the check "explained that Monia instructed her to make this check out in the name of George Joseph, who was an investment planner from New York that Monia worked with," Caid wrote. Joseph lived in Cape Girardeau, not New York.

It is not clear why Joseph's name was used or whether he was the one who endorsed the check.

Joseph has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Monia, and the woman who wrote the check is not one of the claimants against the Josephs' estate.

"We're unable to prove that he had any knowledge of Keith's illegal activities," Caid said at the time. "I don't have any credible information that shows me that George was a willing participant in the financial exploitation."

Joseph, who remains in custody, will make his next court appearance on the murder charges May 14. Jury selection is slated to begin July 15, with a scheduled trial start date of July 20.

kwebster@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

1220 West Cape Rock Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO