Nursing Home Resident Fleeced Of $160K+ By Power Of Attorney-Holding Employee, Say Cops

In Shenendoah, Pennsylvania, the Republican Herald reports:

• A Girardville woman charged with stealing more than $160,000 over a two-year period from an elderly woman she befriended waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday [...]. Michelle A. Connors, [...] is charged with two felony counts each of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. By waiving her right to a hearing, Connors will now have to answer to the charges in Schuylkill County Court. The woman remains free on $5,000 bail that was posted for her at the time of her arraignment earlier this year.

• Connors was arrested by Shenandoah police Patrolman Joseph Hall and Dolores Malec of the Schuylkill County District Attorney's Elder Abuse Unit and charged with taking the money between November 2006 and September 2008. Investigators said the thefts occurred while Connors had power of attorney for Mary O'Connell, now in her 90s. Hall said that in November 2006, Connors took over the woman's assets that totaled $222,692.61 and had control of the money until Sept. 11, 2008.

• During that time, both Hall and Malec said Connors, who befriended O'Connell when she was a resident of a local nursing facility where Connors worked, bought items including a camera, computer and a cell phone using money from the woman's account. Connors also made numerous ATM withdrawals and large counter withdrawals from the bank, including $5,000 that she used to fix a roof, Hall said. He said Connors also withdrew $10,000 she said was to prepay for O'Connell's funeral. The prepayment was actually $7,110 and Hall said Connors never returned the remaining $2,890.

• In all, Hall said Connors stole $160,468.93 in addition to the money never returned after paying for the funeral.

Source: Girardville woman waives hearing in elder abuse case.