Assisted living center director admits to taking money from deaf tenant

SALT LAKE CITY — A woman admitted to making purchases totaling thousands of dollars with a deaf man's account without his permission while in a role as executive director at Rosewood Assisted Care in South Salt Lake and agreed to pay him back.

Ann Mareta Polataivao, 32, pleaded guilty on July 16 to communications fraud, a second-degree felony, under a plea in abeyance.

If she successfully completes her plea in abeyance terms, the second-degree felony will be reduced to a class A misdemeanor. As part of the terms, Polataivao agreed to register on the white-collar criminal registry and pay back $26,283 to the man, with interest, within one year. Her plea agreement said the repayment timeline would be "strictly enforced."

She was also ordered to be on good behavior probation, and not violate any laws outside of minor traffic violations, for three years.

Her plea deal, which was accepted by 3rd District Judge Amanda Montague, also dismissed additional charges of financially exploiting a vulnerable adult, unlawful use of a financial card, unlawful fiduciary act and identity fraud, second-degree felonies, in addition to unlawfully acquiring or possessing a financial card, a third-degree felony.

A police booking affidavit said the man disputed his charges with his bank, and the bank then gave him more information about the charges, which showed Polataivao's name. The woman later admitted that she had used his credit cards to purchase airplane tickets and send money to Samoa in interviews with officers, it said.

Related topics