Northwest Montana woman accused of stealing from elderly parents

She was supposed to make sure they were cared for, but state investigators said all she did was take advantage of the situation.

Kathy Ann Lewis, 63, of Kalispell, was booked into the Flathead County Detention Center Thursday, March 11, on two felony counts of exploitation of an older person. She was released later that day on her own recognizance.

Montana state prosecutor Katherine Proctor filed the charges against Lewis after investigators from the state Attorney General’s office found evidence they believe shows Lewis stole several thousand dollars from her mother and stepfather after the woman gained power of attorney for both people, who live in area nursing homes.

The alleged thefts occurred in Flathead, Lincoln and Sanders counties when Lewis used debit cards from bank accounts belonging to her mother and stepfather to make various purchases. Some of the money allegedly was used on a trip Lewis took to Hawaii.

The case began in October 2018 when an agent with the state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received a complaint from an employee with a nursing home in Libby.

According to court documents, the employee reported Lewis’s stepfather, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, had an outstanding balance of nearly $4,600 and Lewis was only making partial payments each month for his care. The employee was concerned Lewis was using her stepfather’s and mother’s money for her own expenses.

The employee said Lewis, who had been granted power of attorney for her stepfather on July 24, 2012, ignored requests from the nursing home for full payment.

Further investigation showed Lewis’s mother was listed on her stepfather’s bank account. She has lived in a nursing home in Columbia Falls since about 2012. The investigator reported Lewis said she took her mother on shopping trips or to visit her husband in Libby and a debit card was used to pay for the expense of shopping or travel.

But the mother said the trips never happened. She said her daughter rarely visited and never took her from the nursing home. When the investigator reviewed the home’s attendance log it indicated the mother left the home one time in 2018 for a trip that wasn’t part of a group trip.

Lewis’s mother said she never gave her daughter permission to use her money and revoked her power of attorney in March 2018.

When the investigator spoke with Lewis, she allegedly said she was sloppy with finances and she had mixed up her father’s debit card with her own. She also allegedly said she used the debit card for a trip she took to Hawaii in February 2018.

Also, bank records showed Lewis consistently used the debit card for personal shopping expenses such as gas and groceries over a period of many years, according to the charging document.

Lewis said she intended to pay back the money, but she allegedly later said she closed her bank account and continued to use the debit cards from accounts belonging to her mother and stepfather.

The investigator also alleged that Lewis transferred money from her stepfather’s account and vice versa when there were shortfalls in their respective accounts.

The agent, after analyzing bank records, reported Lewis had stolen about $19,000.

Lewis will be arraigned on the charges at 8 a.m. Thursday, March 25.

Scott Shindledecker may be reached at sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com or at 406-758-4441.