A woman employed as a home health care aide for an elderly North Haven couple for several years has been accused of bilking them out of $100,000 and using the money for personal expenses, including a vacation.
Police charged Traci Stokarski, 38, of Berlin, with first-degree larceny and credit card fraud, the New Haven Register reports.
North Haven police have accused Stokarski of using the money from a $100,000 home equity loan to buy things for her family, and of withdrawing advances from the couple's credit cards and maxing them out.
The man is 94 and his wife is 88. Police did not publicly identify them.
"My parents scrimped and saved and now they have nothing. No credit and no money in the bank," the couple's son told the paper.
The Register reports that the elderly woman didn't want to go into a nursing home, so the home equity loan was to provide for her needs.
Stokarski paid the couple's bills, did their shopping. and helped hire a team to care for the woman 24 hours a day, the newspaper reports.
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Police estimate that from March to August 2009, about $170,000 was used to run the couple's household and $50,000 to $100,000 went to Stokarski and her family.
They also say using an agency can help cut down on fraud.
