• 14
  • October
    2011

The stories of people in Florida who have been betrayed by people they trusted are far more numerous than they should be. It should be much more of a rarity for anyone entrusted with power of attorney over someone else's affairs to abuse that power and try to take money or property.

A recent case from outside of Florida illustrates the common pattern, and shows again how important it is to choose someone trustworthy to have power of attorney. In this case, a man who is partially paralyzed had more than $100,000 in retirement funds taken by a woman who was given power of attorney over his finances.

As if that were not bad enough, Florida power of attorney lawyers who saw news stories on the case noted that the paralyzed man had once been swindled before by another couple that had provided care for him.

Now the woman who misappropriated the $100,000 has been charged with theft by deception. She took control of the man's property and bank accounts without his consent, by abusing her power of attorney.

The alleged thief apparently paid off her own mortgage and repaired her own home with the money.

The victim was in the hospital, recovering from a stroke.

When confronted by the authorities, the woman tried to say that the man had given her the money in exchange for her care. However, the man, when questioned, was unaware of what the woman had done with his money and property.

A few days before the authorities tried to arrest the woman, she apparently absconded to South Korea.

Source: The Mercury "Paralyzed man victimized for second time, now by his power of attorney" Oct. 13, 2011