2 SW Mo. residents to stand trial for fraud

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - A southwest Missouri couple will stand trial on charges that they defrauded victims of the 2011 Joplin tornado

Sixty-five-year-old Jeffrey Wolfson, of Osage Beach, and his wife, 57-year-old Gloria Schoeller, of Springfield, are accused of taking 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.

The Joplin Globe reports (http://bit.ly/RJr6s5 ) that Jasper County Judge Richard Copeland found probable cause Thursday to try Wolfson on charges of theft and deceptive business practice. Schoeller waived a preliminary hearing Tuesday on similar charges, including theft, fraud and deceptive business practice.

Lawyers listed for Schoeller and Wolfson didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.