Florida Man Charged With Exploiting Elderly Father

A 51-year-old man has been charged with stealing money from his father, whom he had Power of Attorney.

Hernando County detectives say on or around Sept. 22, they received a notification from the Department of Children and Families that 86-year-old Joseph Prizzi was currently residing in an assisted living facility in the county and his son, Andrew Prizzi, was not paying his bills.

An investigation revealed that Joseph had suffered a fall in the home in early May and was admitted to the hospital at that time.

Andrew indicated to a detective that his father's social security and retirement benefits are deposited into a SunTrust bank account in both of their names, however, Andrew does not contribute to the account. Andrew said that "his father's money is just sitting there."

Detectives then subpoenaed for the bank statements after Andrew refused to hand over any copies.

The statements showed several withdrawals totaling $18,698.26 were made from the account after Joseph was admitted to the hospital.

No payments were made to the assisted living facility or to any of Joseph's physicians. All transactions listed were of no benefit to Joseph. The withdrawal slips on all transactions were signed by Andrew Prizzi.

Andrew Prizzi had a fiduciary duty to act in his father's best interest, including handling Joseph's finances in a responsible manner.

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Man Charged With Exploiting Elderly Father