Woman charged for the financial exploitation of elderly person

by Erin Thompson

LEWISTOWN — A Milroy woman is facing felony charges after police said she took more than $26,000 from an elderly person while they were under her care.

Debbie Lynn Rickabaugh, 58, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Kent Smith Monday on charges of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and financial exploitation of an older adult or care dependent person.

According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, a family contacted Lewistown Borough Police Department, stating that Rickabaugh had been taking advantage of an elderly person who she had been caring for since August.

Police said Rickabaugh was hired by the family of the elderly in August to work 20 hours per week and that Rickabaugh began cashing checks for the family in early September.

The report states that the elderly person’s checking account had been declining in November and that several checks had been made out to Rickabaugh. The family noticed that several of the checks stated large amounts of hours worked in the memo line.

Police said the family again checked the account in January and found large discrepancies in the account.

During 21 weeks of employment, police said Rickabaugh made out about $26,443 in checks to herself and the elderly person had signed them in good faith that the amount was correct.

Rickabaugh was held in Mifflin County Correctional Facility on $25,000 unsecured bail. She is awaiting a preliminary hearing set for 9 a.m. Feb. 21 in Smith’s office.

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Woman charged for the financial exploitation of elderly person

Former caretaker from St. Marys accused of stealing client's money, identity

By Brianne Fleming

ST. MARYS — A St. Marys woman is facing charges after she allegedly used the identity of a care-dependent client to open a credit card and withdraw funds from the victim’s bank account.

Tiffany Jane Thomas, 42, is charged with accessing a device issued to another person who did not authorize its use, a first-degree misdemeanor; two counts of financial exploitation of older adult or care-dependent person; two counts of identity theft and two counts of theft by unlawful taking –moveable property, according to a criminal complaint filed at Magisterial District Judge Mark Jacob’s office Nov. 21.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, City of St. Marys Police received a call from the victim in this case on Oct. 7 concerning alleged fraud and identity theft.

Between May-October 2022, Thomas — who was employed as the caretaker of an older, care-dependent person — allegedly stole the victim’s information, including their driver’s license and social security number, using the information to open a credit card and make a cash withdraw from the victim’s bank account, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The investigation revealed that in May 2022, Thomas did allegedly open a Capital One credit card using the victim’s name, date of birth and social security number. She secured $290.26 in charges on the card, and reportedly attempted to make several credit increases using the victim’s identity information.

In October 2022, Thomas also allegedly used the victim’s driver’s license, which was stolen at an earlier date, at a drive-thru of a bank in Clearfield to make a $400 withdraw from the victim’s bank account. Thomas was later found to allegedly be in possession of the victim’s driver’s license, as well as other financial documents, valued at $30, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The total restitution requested is $720.26.

Thomas’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13 at Jacob’s office.

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Former caretaker from St. Marys accused of stealing client's money, identity