Daughter charged with stealing mother's nursing-home money

A woman accused of stealing money from her mother's bank account intended to pay for her mother's care in a Collier County nursing home has been arrested, state officials said Monday.

Barbara M. Renaud, 60, of Morristown, in Levy County, was arrested last week on a warrant charging her with one count of exploiting the elderly in the theft of $1,200 from her 86-year-old mother's bank account that was to cover her bills at Heritage Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, 777 Ninth St. N., records show. The elderly woman's name is confidential.

Acting as her mother's power of attorney, Renaud had access to her mother's bank account and forged several checks, according to arrest documents.

Renaud also is accused of selling her mother's mobile home in Collier and keeping $21,000 from the sale, and she re-titled two cars from her mother's name and put them in her own name and her husband's name, records show. Renaud's exploitation of her mother occurred from March 23, 2003, when she sold the mobile home and re-titled the vehicles, through Sept. 2, 2005, according to the arrest warrant.

Officials with the nursing home alerted the state Department of Children and Families of the exploitation, who in turn contacted the Medicaid Fraud Unit with the state Attorney General's Office.

Renaud was arrested by agents with the Medicaid fraud unit and is in custody at the Levy County Jail. One count of exploiting the elderly is a second-degree felony, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. The case will be prosecuted by the 20th Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Collier.

Renaud's arrest was the third in the state this past week involving exploitation of seniors, where one of the other cases involved an adult child exploiting an elderly parent.

Last week, a former Okaloosa resident was arrested on charges of taking money from his elderly father that was intended to pay for her father's care in an Okaloosa nursing home.