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John Boston, 47, tried to hide his hiring to manage the woman's affairs and assets, they said.
He never told his employer and ignored a federal Financial Industry Regulatory Authority requirement to register the victim as a client, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a joint announcement with Interim Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Al Garcia.
After obtaining durable financial power-of-attorney, Boston diverted tens of thousands of dollars of the woman's money to himself through a series of ATM withdrawals and bank transfers, Platkin said.
He then "used his own debit card to withdraw the money and spent it on his own bills and purchases for himself and his family," the joint statement says.
Meanwhile, he "defaulted on the victim’s bills and neglected her care and well-being," it says.
Boston was arrested on a complaint in early August, sent to the Essex County Correctional Facility and released the next day.
A grand jury in Trenton subsequently indicted Boston on theft charges following an investigation by the state Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Platkin and Garcia announced on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
“Victimizing our senior citizens under the guise of providing professional services occurs too often, and the effects on the victims and their families can be devastating,” Platkin said. “No one should have to fear losing their life’s savings or their home because someone purporting to be a professional violated their duty and trust."
Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Krayn is prosecuting the case for the state following the probe by Detectives Little Trenard and Chantel Blake, which began with a referral from the state Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Platkin and Garcia said.
Investigator SeRonne Anderson and Analyst Keira McRae-Wiggins played integral roles in the probe, Garcia noted.
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