Two recent criminal cases illustrate how financial abuse by individuals acting under power of attorney (POA) can leave elderly residents without funds to pay for essential care, resulting in serious risk to residents and financial implications for care providers.
In Pennsylvania, a man was charged with stealing nearly $400,000 from his 92-year-old grandmother between August 2020 and August 2024 while serving as her POA. According to an August 21, 2025, press release from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, the funds were used for the defendant’s personal expenses including Cash App transfers, ATM withdrawals, rent payments, and retail purchases. In May 2023, the grandmother entered a nursing home, where she eventually accrued a past-due balance of over $65,000.
In a separate Indiana case, a South Carolina man was arrested on August 21, 2025, for allegedly stealing nearly $1 million from his grandmother, who had been moved into an Indiana assisted living facility in 2023. He had been appointed POA in 2021. The investigation began after a bank reported suspicious activity in May 2024. Authorities allege that he used the funds for personal benefit and was behind on paying his grandmother’s facility balance. He was charged with theft, money laundering, corrupt business influence, neglect of a dependent, and elder abuse.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Financial abuse can take many forms. Individuals with a legal obligation to manage a resident’s finances may fail to use funds for essential needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare—placing the resident at risk of harm. These fiduciaries may include agents under power of attorney, trustees, guardians, conservators, Social Security representative payees, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fiduciaries. In some cases, family members or others who step in to manage a resident’s finances may attempt to take money or assets for personal gain, which can severely impact the resident’s financial stability and result in an inability to pay nursing home or assisted living community bills. Facilities are required to report any allegations of misappropriation or exploitation of a resident’s funds or property to the State Agency and appropriate local authorities.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures related to the misappropriation of residents’ property or funds. Also review your policies and procedures for working with residents’ financial caregivers. Consider engaging external consultants with expertise in regulatory compliance and risk management to assist with policy development or provide an objective review. Ensure that policies are reviewed at least annually and updated when regulations change or new information becomes available.
- Train all staff to recognize signs of financial exploitation and understand their duty to report suspected abuse. Ensure appropriate personnel are trained to monitor resident billing activity, as unpaid bills may signal financial abuse. Med-Net Academy offers a course titled Protecting Resident Finances that covers topics such as F-tag 602, appropriate professional behavior around gift giving, consequences of theft, and best practices for issues affecting residents and their belongings.
- Conduct regular audits to verify that residents’ bills are current and that required documentation from financial caregivers (e.g., POA instruments, payee authorizations, guardianship orders) is on file. Working with specialized consultants can help facilities identify potential compliance gaps and improve risk mitigation strategies. Reinforce staff awareness of compliance and ethics responsibilities, including how to report suspected violations to a supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or via the anonymous hotline.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, Inc. for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*