Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

A man has been arrested by West Virginia State Police for allegedly stealing more than $166,000 from his 88-year-old mother who is suffering from the onset of dementia.

Thomas Gibson Burger was charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person, according to a criminal complaint in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

The complaint states that Burger intentionally misused and squandered money from the account of his mother, Hilda Burger, that was supposed to be used for her care. The account contained more than $166,000 before it was depleted over a period that extended from 2007 to present by repeated withdrawals made by the defendant, mainly to support his drug addiction, the complaint said.

From 2007 to July 8, 2011, the defendant allegedly misused more than $81,000 of his mother’s money, the complaint said. He then coerced his mother to give him power of attorney and proceeded to deplete the remaining funds in her Ameriprise financial account, court records said.

Police were alerted to the alleged crime after they say Burger filed a complaint with Dunbar Police, accusing his sister of stealing the money. Once police started investigating, they say they realized Burger was to blame.

He is being held on a $100,000 cash only bond.

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