Rochester Couple Charged With Defrauding Vulnerable Man

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester couple is accused of stealing funds from a vulnerable elderly man after taking over his finances.

34-year-old Colleen Siverling Keigher and 33-year-old Corey Keigher are each charged with two felony counts of aiding and abetting financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The criminal complaint alleges the husband and wife wrote themselves checks for a total of just over $125,000 from the victim's bank accounts last year.

The charges indicate an Olmsted County investigator began looking into the situation in January of this year after receiving a vulnerable adult maltreatment report concerning an 81-year-old man who had been living in a secure memory care facility in Rochester for over 2 years. The report involved suspicions that the couple was making cash withdrawals from ATMs and cash checks that were not being made in the victim's best interest.

Court documents list Colleen Siverling-Keigher as having Power of Attorney for the elderly man. During interviews with investigators and Olmsted County social workers, the couple claimed the funds had been used to clean up and fix up the victim's home, but they were unable to provide any invoices or other documentation. Sivering-Keigher also explained that an attorney had told her to pay herself $25 per hour for the time she spent on her Power of Attorney duties.

The couple also stated that some of the funds were used to cover back taxes owed by the victim and to settle other outstanding bills. The criminal complaint also says the couple admitted using the victim's funds to purchase new tires for a camper and nearly $4000 worth of jewelry but also claimed they were paying back the victim without any documentation to verify the payments.

The couple is scheduled to make their first court appearance on the charges on January 31st.