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STAFF REPORT
PASCACK PRESS
PARK RIDGE, N.J. — A Park Ridge woman was arrested and accused of theft by deception and elder abuse charges after she allegedly depleted her elderly neighbor’s finances for personal use.
Kim Covello, 62, was awarded the power of attorney over her 94-year-old former neighbor in 2012, according to a press release from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. In 2014 and 2016, the Bergen County Board of Social Services Adult Protective Services Unit (APS) received complaints regarding financial and care-related issues between Covello and the victim, the prosecutor’s office said. The complaints were investigated by APS and then turned over to them, it said.
During the investigation, it was determined that Covello had allegedly obtained power of attorney and used in excess of $150,000 of the victim’s money for her own purposes, according to the county prosecutor’s office. Covello’s illicit use of the money included direct payments to herself and her family members, as well as using the funds to build an addition to her house, the prosecutor’s office said.
The victim’s funds were completely drained and the victim is now in need of public assistance financing, according to the county prosecutor.
Covello was arrested on March 29 in Paramus and charged with one count of theft by deception with the amount involved being greater than $75,000, a second-degree crime; and one count of elder abuse, a third-degree crime. She is scheduled for a first appearance in court on April 18.
Acting Prosecutor Dennis Calo states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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