Two women have been arrested on Felony 1st Degree Theft and Dependent Adult Abuse by financial exploitation charges, in Fremont County. The Sheriff’s Office said Sunday, 62-year old Roberta Lee Hovey, of Omaha, NE., and 59-year old Rebecca Ann Cook, of Centerville, TX, were taken into custody following an investigation that began with a report from the Department of Human Services (DHS).

Officials say the DHS notified the Sheriff’s Office that the house of an elderly man residing at The Ambassador Sidney, Incorporated (a nursing home) had been sold, and the proceeds used by Hovey for her own use. Hovey and Cook are the daughters of the alleged victim, and had acted as his Power of Attorney.

Rebecca Cook

Roberta Hovey

During the course of the investigation, other financial transactions took place between 2013 and 2015, including the purchase of vehicles, and other large payments between Hovey and Cook that depleted their fathers’ banking account, which had a value of more than  $466,000 at the time the women took it over.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in their investigation by the Fremont County Attorney’s Office and Iowa Attorney General’s Office.