In the following press release the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice announced that an Ansonia woman was arrested today for allegedly violating the fiduciary duties placed in her as attorney-in-fact for her 89-year old mother. Donna D. Kingston, age 61, of 6 Milan Street, Ansonia, was charged with three counts each of Larceny in the First Degree and Larceny in the Second Degree.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Ms. Kingston was entrusted with joint signatory on her mother’s bank accounts. In May and July of 2007, the daughter allegedly withdrew more than $72,000 by closing a CD account and withdrawing funds from a bank account owned by her mother. Less than $4,500 was left in the bank account, the warrant states.

In May 2008, acting as her mother’s attorney-in-fact but without the mother’s consent, Ms. Kingston quit-claimed full ownership of her mother’s Ansonia home to herself, according to the warrant. Although the deed allowed the mother life use in the property, she has repeatedly demanded the return of her home and assets without result, the warrant states.

Other family members discovered the transfer of funds and property and filed a complaint with the Elder Abuse Unit in Chief State’s Attorney’s Office.

Larceny in the First Degree is a class B felony punishable by not less than one year and not more than twenty years imprisonment. Larceny in the Second Degree is a class C felony punishable by not less than one year and not more than ten years imprisonment.

The charges against Ms. Kingston are merely allegations and she is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ms. Kingston surrendered to, and was arrested by Inspectors of the Division of Criminal Justice this morning. She was released on a $75,000 non-surety bond and is to be arraigned in Derby Superior Court, G.A. No. 5, on Monday September 21, 2009.

The case was investigated by the Elder Abuse Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney and will be prosecuted by the Ansonia-Milford State’s Attorney’s Office.