Lower Bucks Woman Charged for Bilking Elderly Doylestown Couple out of Thousand’s

A Penndel woman was jailed last week accused of  stealing money from a elderly Doylestown couple she was providing home care services to. 

Holly Hughes, 59, and a co-defendant, have been charged with six felony counts of fraud and theft related charges for stealing at least $ 4,890 in goods and cash, police say from the couple. 

Doylestown Police, in response  to a fraud complaint called in by the couple’s son in September interviewed him and the two victims. The son told police when reviewing his parents bank statements he noticed purchases and “cash back withdrawals” made at area retailers that his parents were unaware of and did not approve.

A list of the “unauthorized transactions” were provided to investigators. The victims told police Hughes and her co-defendant had been provided debit cards by the couple for household purchases and food. the criminal complaint says.

The senior couples daughter upon learning of the alleged fraudulent activity on her parents bank account sat down with her mother and father to review the transaction history of a Navy Federal Credit Union account, police say, identifying numerous transactions from June to September of last year on that account too, according to the criminal complaint. 

Police reviewed video surveillance of the alleged fraudulent transactions made at Home Depot, the Giant Company in Warrington and Acme Supermarket in Doylestown showing Hughes purchasing food and requesting cash back at the end of each transaction, receiving money from the victims account.

Neither victim was not present were the withdrawals were made, the probable cause affidavit says.

Investigators interviewed the *co-defendant in the case in late October and she told police the two had previously discussed using the victims debit card for cash back purposes during a transaction in which she received funds from the victims debit card and giving some of the proceeds to Hughes.

According to the *co-defendants statement, she said Hughes admitted to making furniture purchases for herself at a Central Bucks outlet also. 

Police through further investigative methods obtained information about other “numerous fraudulent transactions” that left an electronic trail for investigators to discover. 

Investigators requested Hughes to come in for a interview.  She “refused to make a statement,” police said. 

Hughes was arraigned last week by District Judge Mark D. Douple who set bail at $25,000 unsecured with her scheduled to appear on August 17 to answer to the charges in Doylestown District Court. 

The woman co-defendant in this case has yet to be taken into custody a Tuesday review court records showed. An active warrant has been issued for her arrest.

Editors Note: Its this publications policy not to identify wanted subjects unless law enforcement releases that information for public purposes.