A former employee of a Phoenix retirement home is accused of stealing nearly $200,000 from a resident in her care, though the suspect claims her actions were intended to benefit the woman involved.
Melissa May McDougal, 41, of Phoenix, faces a Class 2 felony charge of theft for allegedly taking $191,050 from a resident of The Palazzo, a residential facility near North 19th and West Maryland Avenue, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by a Phoenix police detective.
The woman McDougal is accused of killing died in January, court documents show. Her name was redacted in charging documents.
McDougal was a manager at the facility when she violated company policy by befriending and accepting money from the wealthy woman who was the only resident of the facility who paid her expenses without government assistance, court documents show.
The charging documents stated that McDougal knew the client was “lonely and vulnerable” as she had no spouse, children or living relatives and her closest friends were out of state and only visited once a year.
Befriended or abused?
According to court documents, a pastor informed a nursing director at The Palazzo that days before her death on Jan. 24, the woman said a facility employee had befriended her and was helping her with her finances. A nurse manager and a social worker later discovered a checkbook containing large checks written to McDougal, along with electronic evidence of pending transactions in the deceased woman’s bank account.
In January, Palazzo managers questioned McDougal, who claimed she tore up a $7,000 check from the woman and only accepted an unspecified refund check for a new phone, according to court documents.
Charging documents said an Adult Protective Services investigator spoke with McDougal in February, who made “vague admissions” about violating company policies, including accepting a ring from the woman.
McDougal, according to court documents, “repeatedly expressed fear” and said, “I have kids. I can’t get into trouble.”
Court documents show McDougal pawned 267 items totaling $38,709, including necklaces, rings, bracelets and pendants. A friend of the facility’s resident told investigators that the woman had inherited valuable jewelry and that she said someone who cared for her was stealing from her, according to court documents.
A search warrant turned up records showing that $191,050 had been withdrawn from the woman’s bank account and sent to McDougal through multiple transactions and various cash accounts, according to charging documents.
McDougal was taken into custody Wednesday at a senior living facility in Peoria, court records show. She admitted to police that she had made payments to herself totaling $191,050, but made $100,000 in cash withdrawals to pay the women back, according to charging documents.
McDougal said her actions did not constitute theft because she was trying to get the woman her money back, according to court documents. Financial records showed this cash refund was an untrue claim by McDougal, the court documents concluded.
McDougal was being held on $100,000 bond in a Maricopa County jail as of Friday, according to court and jail records. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 30, court records show.
Forced to change: The problematic Peoria retirement home will have a new owner after its permit is revoked
This article originally appeared in the Arizona Republic: Phoenix senior living manager charged in $200,000 theft from resident
