Woman Charged With Stealing $423K From Elderly Uncle

A woman is in jail after allegedly stealing more than $420,000 from her 96-year-old uncle while he suffered from Alzheimer's and dementia.

The Pierce County Prosecutor's Office charged Betsey Cammon, 54, with 34 counts of theft, a crime she initially blamed on threats and extortion from an unknown person.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Cammon was given power of attorney for her uncle in 1998. But, that would only go into effect once he was no longer able to make his own decisions regarding his financial affairs.

In May 2007, Cammon was added to her uncle's bank accounts. He was admitted to a nursing home two years later.

In March 2009, Cammon's power of attorney was finally activated when a doctor found her uncle could no longer manage his affairs. At that point, Cammon had already withdrawn nearly $200,000 from his bank accounts, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Cammon failed to pay her uncle's nursing home bill in 2010. Rainier Guardianship Services took over guardianship of Cammon's uncle in May of that year and needed to liquidate his assets to pay his living expenses because his accounts had been almost completed depleted, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Cammon's uncle died four months later, and his nephew was appointed as his personal representative, finding a number of discrepancies in his uncle's accounts.

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Woman Charged With Stealing $423,000 From Elderly Uncle