A woman in Ridgway was booked by police officers in Pennsylvania for allegedly stealing her elderly mother’s retirement funds.
K.J.W., a 56-year-old lady, is accused of using her power of attorney over her mother’s estate, which she received in 2022, to deplete the victim’s savings account. K.J.W. obtained power of attorney after her mother began to show signs of early dementia and entrusted her daughter with her care and financial management.
Power of Attorney and Uncontrolled Gambling Spending
K.J.W., who had an income of only $1,600 when she went on her gambling spree, is now facing four felony counts, including financial exploitation of an elderly or care-dependent person, theft by deception-false impression, theft by deception-prevent acquisition of information, and theft by deception-failure to correct.
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However, the suspect is believed to have taken $123,000 from her mother’s life savings account and used it to fuel her gambling habit for the following two years. According to authorities, the suspect utilized the monies to play at casinos in Pennsylvania and upstate New York between March 2022 and September 2023.
K.J.W. gained access to her mother’s other account, where she got an additional $27,000, which she then spent on gaming. There were numerous gambling locations she frequented.
She used to take rides to the Seneca Casino in Salamanca, New York, about a 15-minute drive north of Ridgway, where she joined the casino’s loyalty club. K.J.W. would also spend money on unregulated activities, such as skill games, which are currently controversial in the Keystone State but are still deemed uncontrolled.
She would perform at locations in Punxsutawney and Reynoldsville that included similar devices. The suspect is alleged to have lost a total of $24,000 at the Seneca Casino alone, however this figure is entirely dependent on whether she used her loyalty cards before each play.
Animal Cruelty and Drug Manufacturing
The woman has been sent to Jefferson County’s Brookville Correctional Facility and is unlikely to post the $100,000 bail because her income has dried up. It is unclear what happened to the woman’s elderly mother or who is currently responsible for her care.
K.J.W. has a long history with law enforcement. She was previously charged with animal cruelty, a third-degree crime, while working as a caretaker in an animal shelter.
Police in DuBois charged her with 22 counts of animal cruelty, and earlier in December, investigators claimed that K.J.W. was attempting to manufacture and distribute illegal narcotics.
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