Charged With Swindling From Autistic Man

A woman has been charged with swindling more than $300,000 from a man with autism over whom she was given power of attorney.

According to charges filed in Dakota County, the victim's mother had saved up a large amount of money while working as a librarian in the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis.

The man, who is not named in the charges but was born in 1959, lived with his parents in Eagan from 1976 through 2004, when the alleged swindling began.

The victim's mother had saved the funds through the bank's "thrift plan," according to the charges. The funds were meant to support the victim and his father after she died in 1997.

The victim's father fell ill in 2003. The charges allege Katherine Louise Rosenthal and her husband, who lived in the same apartment building in Eagan, befriended the victim and his father, who eventually allowed Rosenthal power of attorney over the man due to his autism.

When the victim's father died the following year, Rosenthal began withdrawing funds from an account owned jointly between the victim and his father, the charges allege.

Bank records indicated Rosenthal had been added as an account holder. According to the charges, she withdrew $9,000 the first month after the victim's father's death, $8,000 the second month, $30,000 the third month.

As an attorney informed authorities, those funds had allegedly been used to pay off Rosenthal's student loans.
In fall 2004, the charges state Rosenthal cashed out 17 savings bonds each carrying a face value of $10,000.

The attorney had Rosenthal's power of attorney revoked and confronted her about the alleged swindling. She told the attorney, "That's my money," according to charges.

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Charges: Woman Swindles $300K From Man With Autism