Easton, Pa. woman charged with stealing over $77,000 from an elderly relative

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the Office of Insurance Fraud announced February 15 a Pennsylvania woman has been charged with stealing nearly $78,000 from an elderly relative who suffers from dementia.

Deanna Attinello was charged with second-degree misapplication of entrusted property and theft by failure to make a required disposition in connection with funds said to have been stolen from her 86-year-old great aunt who is under her legal guardianship.

In court documents, Attinello, a 23-year-old from Easton, Pennsylvania, was appointed legal guardian of her great aunt in January 2017. The court records say she was given access to the aunt's money in order to pay for the woman's care at a long-term facility in warren Township, New Jersey.

It is alleged that Attinello began draining her aunt's accounts within days of the appointment to legal guardian.

Prosecutors state that bills were paid on behalf of the elderly woman by Attinello. But, they say, Attinello allegedly withdrew cash or wrote checks for herself totally over $77,000.