Relatives Charged w/ Selling Home From Out From Under Elderly Oregon Widow; Used POA To Pocket $235K Sale Proceeds, Cash Out Bank Accounts, Annuities

In Portland, Oregon, The Oregonian reports:

• Shortly after two women gained power of attorney from a dying 83-year-old relative, they took all of her possessions and sold her house of 56 years, police said. The pair pocketed the $235,000 from the house sale and cleaned out the elderly woman's bank accounts and savings, sharing the money among themselves and family members, police and prosecutors say.(1) They also arranged and pre-paid for her funeral. However, Evelyn Roth made an amazing recovery and had no idea what her relatives were up to.

• Now the two suspects, Roth's cousin Virginia Ann Kuehn, 66, and her niece Kathleen Sue Jingling, 53, face a 35-count felony indictment charging them with first-degree criminal mistreatment, aggravated theft and first-degree theft. They've pleaded not guilty. [...] "They robbed me blind," Roth said. "Everything was for money, just to get money, money, money. That's not the way it should be." Roth said she pursued criminal charges because she's lost her savings and all her possessions to relatives who betrayed her trust.

For more, see Dying woman recovers, says relatives "robbed me blind" (if link expires, try here).

(1) Police said the two women cleaned out $35,000 in Evelyn Roth's checking account and also cashed her two annuities totaling $88,000. FinancialAbuseOfElderlyAlpha