CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman has waived her right to a preliminary hearing on more than 2,800 counts of theft charges, according to online court documents.
Kathy A. Martin, 56, of Clearfield has been charged with 763 counts each of theft by unlawful taking; theft by deception; and receiving stolen property. She has also been charged with 549 counts of other reason access device is unauthorized by issuer.
Martin’s bail is currently set at $50,000 unsecured.
Martin was the power of attorney for the victim from March 29, 2001 until Oct. 1, 2013. Martin has been accused of making 549 access device transactions, writing 214 checks and stealing $64,669.19 from the victim’s bank account for her own benefit.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on April 25, a representative with the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging contacted Clearfield Borough police. She reported that Martin had been using the victim’s checking account as her own to purchase Pittsburgh Pirates tickets on July 8, 2013, for numerous camping reservations between June of 2009 and October of 2011; and for other “questionable transactions.”
On May 2, police interviewed the victim for which the CCAAA representative was present. The victim explained that Martin was to take out $20 to buy something she (the victim) needed but didn’t have her permission to spend more than that. The victim noted to police that she didn’t need money very often.
The victim told police she’d started receiving insurance-related letters, which stated she owed money. She also advised she doesn’t have accounts with Allstate, American Express, PayPal, Timberland Credit Union or Northwest Savings. Also, she had neither heard of Mason’s Direct, nor any of the collection accounts listed on bank transactions.
According to the affidavit, the victim told police she’s needed glasses and shoes for some time. However, she said that Martin always told her that she didn’t have enough money. The victim noted to police she owned a home, which she lost to foreclosure and non-payment, while Martin was her power of attorney.
Upon investigation police found numerous transactions with First Energy, an account believed to be affiliated with Martin. Police noted that the victim doesn’t pay an electric bill since she resides at the Henry Meyers Towers.
Police also found numerous checks were written to Fuel & Save. The victim, police said, doesn’t have an account with Fuel & Save, but “Martin 3” was written in the memo line on several of the checks.
On June 2, police served a search warrant on Fuel & Save in Kartahus and received seven pages of financial information related to Martin and her husband. Police subsequently found Martin had been using the victim’s account to pay her bill since Jan. 26, 2004 with the amount totaling $6,769.19.
During the course of the investigation, police found numerous transactions with the Timberland Federal Credit Union, which started in 2007. Martin and her husband have a checking account with the financial institution, police said. Police also believe Martin and or her husband may have a loan account with Timberland Federal Credit Union.
Police found money was being withdrawn from the victim’s account and deposited into Martin’s account. These transactions, police said, totaled $16,195.
In addition, police found Martin had written checks to pay for bus trips to casinos between February of 2007 and April of 2009.