A Pennsylvania woman is facing multiple charges after allegedly stealing $22,988 from an elderly relative and mismanaging her finances. The defendant is accused of 17 counts of forgery and identity theft, both second-degree felonies, as well as theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property, which are third-degree felonies. Additionally, she faces 14 counts of tampering with records, a first-degree misdemeanor.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on March 7, 2024, the Clearfield Regional Police Department spoke with an employee of the Area Agency on Aging. The employee reported that an elderly woman, a resident of a nursing home, had been victimized. The defendant, who holds power of attorney (POA) over the relative’s finances, allegedly wrote checks to herself using the relative’s checking account without authorization.
Police determined that the defendant wrote several checks totaling $22,988.56 from the relative’s account. Furthermore, she failed to pay the nursing home, resulting in a debt of $125,476. During police questioning, the defendant denied the allegations, claiming that the relative had given her permission to use the checking account for these expenses. However, she couldn’t provide proof of this permission.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Financial abuse takes many different forms. Someone with a legal obligation to handle a resident’s finances may fail to use the funds for necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare, putting the resident at risk of harm. People with legal obligations to handle finances include fiduciaries such as agents under power of attorney, trustees, guardians, conservators, Social Security representative payees, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fiduciaries. If family or other individuals step in to manage a resident’s finances, some may try to take money or assets for themselves, which can seriously impact the resident’s finances and may result in an inability to pay their nursing home or assisted living community bills. A facility is required to report any allegations of misappropriation or exploitation of a resident’s funds or personal property to the State Agency and to appropriate local authorities.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies on misappropriation of residents’ belongings or funds. Also review your policies and procedures for working with residents’ financial caregivers. Ensure that your policies are reviewed at least annually and updated when new information becomes available.
- Train all staff about abuse, neglect, and exploitation of residents, including misappropriation of personal belongings or funds. Also train appropriate staff to monitor payments to the nursing home or assisted living community, as unpaid bills may be a result of financial abuse of the resident. Document that the training occurred, and place the signed document in each employee’s education file.
- Audit to ensure that residents’ bills are being paid, and that resident financial caregiver documentation is on file, such as copies of a power of attorney instrument, Social Security representative payee authorization, or a guardianship court order. Staff should be aware of compliance and ethics concerns and understand their responsibility to report any violations to their supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or via the anonymous hotline.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
