Home Health Care Aid Gets Nearly 3 Years For POA Abuse; Used Stroke-Stricken Senior's Home As Loan Collateral, Then Stiffed Bank, Leading To F'closure

In Columbia, South Carolina, The Associated Press reports:

• An Aiken woman has been sentenced to nearly three years for defrauding an elderly woman. U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said [] Tabitha Ruth Smith-McDaniel was also ordered to pay more than $98,000 restitution to the estate of the woman, who has since died. Smith-McDaniel pleaded guilty to mail fraud in September.



• Prosecutors say she provided home health care to a North Augusta woman who had suffered a stroke. With the woman's power of attorney, Nettles says Smith-McDaniel opened charge accounts in the woman's name and used her home as collateral for a loan.



• The home was repossessed and sold in foreclosure. Nettles says Smith-McDaniel also terminated the woman's life insurance policy and deposited a refund check into her own account. The woman died shortly after filing for bankruptcy in 2006.

Source: Prosecutors: Aiken woman sentenced to nearly 3 years for defrauding elderly woman of savings.