Police recently arrested a Fort Lee NJ man who allegedly stole half a million dollars from an elderly person who lived in a local nursing home.

According to Bergen County authorities, the suspect committed the theft crimes over a period of several years. The suspect reportedly had power of attorney over the senior citizen victim. This power of attorney granted the suspect access to the victim’s investment account and personal checking account, which contained in excess of $900,000.

The victim’s bank account reportedly received a monthly infusion of money via pension deposits and Social Security deposits. The suspect allegedly stole from those funds as well.

Once the suspect was granted power of attorney, he was supposed to arrange for payments to the assisted living facility where the victim lived. However, the suspect went beyond merely taking care of the suspect’s financial obligations and also withdrew money for his own personal use.

The suspect allegedly bilked the victim out of more than $500K by transferred funds from the victim’s accounts to his own bank accounts from 2009 to 2016.

Law enforcement eventually became aware of the alleged fraud and theft when someone complained to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office White Collar Crimes Unit.

The 33-year-old suspect, who lives in Fort Lee and works as a preschool teacher, has been charged with numerous crimes, including first degree theft, theft by deception, money laundering, and neglect of an elderly person.

After being placed under arrest and processed, the suspect was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, New Jersey. The suspect was being held at the correctional facility in lieu of a $75K bail amount.

For further information about this case, check out the NJ.com article, “Preschool Teacher Stole $500K from Senior Citizen, Prosecutors Say.”