A forensic accountant told a jury Tuesday he "followed the money" taken from bank accounts of a Schuylkill County man with Alzheimer's as a Pottsville couple cared for him, and found nearly $85,000 of it had nothing to do with his well-being.
Instead, Catherine Whitney, 58, and her husband, Robert, 57, used money from the estate of Louis V. Long of Mahanoy City to pay their credit cards, loans, insurance, car payments and even college tuition for one of their children, Dennis Houser testified in county court.
Long, 77, died March 24, 2006, a month after Schuylkill Senior Services removed him from the Whitneys' home and started an investigation.
"Was Mr. Long in school or owner of a Volkswagen?" Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony W. Forray, who is prosecuting the case, asked Houser.
"No, sir," he replied.
Houser's testimony took up much of the second day of the Whitneys' trial. Each is charged with seven counts of theft and one count of conspiracy.
The defense is expected to present testimony today.
The Whitneys' attorney, Frederick Fanelli, said the couple doesn't dispute spending money from Long. Fanelli said they had a decade-long friendship with Long and took him into their home in 2004.
Instead, Fanelli has said the childless widower gave the Whitneys power of attorney and made them promise he would not go to a nursing home.
Fanelli challenged Houser's repeated testimony about $5,700 withdrawals the Whitneys made by saying they equal the amount Medicare requires recipients to "pay down" their estate to show they're using it for care and to qualify for government aid.
He also asked Houser if he knew whether Long approved of the Whitneys' use of the money. "I have no idea," Houser responded, saying he simply looked at how the money was used.
"Were you ever asked to determine the cost of being in a home?" Fanelli asked. "Is there any way to put a value on living with friends?"
Fanelli countered Monday testimony that Catherine Whitney paid herself $72,000 in a year, partially for realty business she lost while caring for Long, but had not made more than $18,000 a year before that. Fanelli introduced tax records showing her business made $79,469 in 2002 and was growing.
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