NJ AG Charges Two In Alleged POA Abuse In Ripoff Of 88-Year Old Relative, Resulting In Victim's Eviction From Assisted Living Facility For Unpaid Rent

In Trenton, New Jersey, MyCentralJersey.com reports:

• A Franklin school board member and her husband, the township's Republican Party chairman, plan to defend against charges that they stole $100,000 from an elderly relative while overseeing her financial accounts, their attorney said. Nancy and Robert LaCorte were charged in a five-count state grand jury indictment handed up Wednesday, authorities said.(1)

***

• State Attorney General Paula Dow said the relative, an 88-year-old woman, had granted a power of attorney over her financial accounts to Nancy LaCorte, 49, whose name was added to the victim's checking account. The relative's pension and Social Security checks were directly deposited into the account, and LaCorte was required to use the funds for the relative's benefit. Robert LaCorte, 57, a licensed insurance agent, is accused of using $162,552 from the victim's Individual Retirement Account without her knowledge to open two annuity accounts with a life insurance company, Dow said. He allegedly earned more than $11,000 in commissions for opening the accounts. The defendants stole a total of about $100,000 from the annuity accounts and two bank accounts by making withdrawals and transfers to their personal accounts, Dow said.

***

• [State attorney general spokesman Peter] Aseltine said the victim, who lives in the Bronx, was evicted from an assisted living facility in Avalon because she was unable to pay her rent, raising suspicion of another relative. That relative discovered that money was missing from the victim's account and took over power of attorney after December 2007, Aseltine said.

For the story, see Franklin couple charged with stealing $100,000 from elderly relative.

For the New Jersey Attorney General press release, see Somerset County Couple Indicted on Charges They Stole $100,000 from an Elderly Relative.

(1) The couple faces charges of conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking, theft by failure to make required disposition of property, misapplication of entrusted property and money laundering, the story states.