A Coopersburg woman has been sentenced to probation following a renegotiated plea agreement with prosecutors stemming from the theft of more than $50,000 from her disabled sister’s bank accounts.
Jill Matlack, 65, initially pleaded guilty in November 2022 to a third-degree felony count of theft by failing to make required dispersal of funds and a second-degree count of theft by unlawful taking as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Four other felony theft charges were dropped in exchange for Matlack’s plea at that time.
Court records show that, after several rescheduled sentencing hearings between April and August, Matlack withdrew her guilty plea in September. After a failed motion to dismiss the case on Sept. 25, Matlack struck another deal with prosecutors on Sept. 29, pleading down to a third-degree felony count of theft by unlawful taking and receiving a sentence of six years’ probation.
Sentencing notes indicate Matlack agreed to make restitution at a monthly minimum rate of $100, and she can receive early termination of her sentence once $30,000 in restitution has been paid.
Prior to the plea agreement, an additional 104 misdemeanor counts of theft, as well as a felony count of dealing in proceeds of illegal activities, were dropped during Matlack’s preliminary hearing.
According to the criminal complaint, Hatfield Township Police arrived at Greenfield Senior Living of Lansdale, 1800 Walnut Street, on July 23, 2019, and met with the victim. She told police she was informed of an outstanding debt of more than $50,000 for housing and other expenses.
The victim told police that Matlack was her power of attorney and controls all bank accounts, disability income and a retirement account, police said. She said she was unable to contact Matlack regarding the debt.
Matlack’s power of attorney was later revoked Aug. 15, 2019, police said.
Police were able to obtain and review records related to the alleged victim consisting of Tastyworks 401(k) statements, Wells Fargo bank statements, Lincoln Financial 403(b) distribution requests, Doylestown Hospital pension distributions, and collection demand letters from Greenfield Senior Living, according to the complaint.
It was after a June 15, 2017, emergency surgery at Abington Hospital, police allege, that Matlack visited her recovering sister and convinced her it would be a good idea to give her power of attorney because neither one knew how long the alleged victim would be incapacitated. The power of attorney was signed and completed at the hospital on June 25, 2017, without a notary, but in the presence of Matlack’s son Brandon, police said.
The victim was transferred on June 30, 2017, to Pine Run in Doylestown for temporary rehabilitation, police said, where she became care-dependent and needed daily assistance.
On Aug. 2, 2017, Doylestown Hospital — the victim’s previous employer — offered her two separate retirement funds, which were to be received by Matlack, police said: a rollover election of $105,612.40 and a 403(b)-retirement savings plan held by Lincoln Financial, which distributed $5,311.10 on Aug. 14, 2017, to the victim’s checking account.
The victim told police she did not complete, sign, or initial any of her pension forms and found out about the retirement account after asking Doylestown Hospital where her retirement funds went, police said.
Police said Matlack distributed some of her sister’s money to her husband, as well as her son, but the victim told police that Jill Matlack was the sole authorized agent.
Police said in less than two years, between Dec. 11, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2019, Matlack depleted the victim’s pension rollover account from $105,612.40 to $27,665.02, mainly through wire transfers to Matlack’s personal checking account opened eight months prior to the power of attorney role.
Furthermore, police allege in December 2018 that Matlack’s husband became the sole authorized agent on one of the retirement accounts, which was established with $10,000 from the original account. Police said the funds were cleared through Apex Clearing Corporation as the acting clearinghouse for Tastyworks before being allocated into an investment account operated by the husband.
All in all, 25 cash withdrawals were made, mainly through wire transfers, resulting in $43,385 in money and fees lost, police said.
Police said Matlack completed 14 unauthorized transactions from the victim’s Wells Fargo bank accounts, totaling $824.52, between June 25, 2017, and Dec. 12, 2019. Police said 44 checks were written directly to “J. Matlack” and deposited directly into Matlack’s checking account. Furthermore, there were 28 bank-to-bank transfers to Matlack using the Zelle app, police said.
Police said the victim’s Wells Fargo account received periodic income because of Social Security payments, ranging from $1,336 to $1,573, as well as Lincoln Financial supplemental retirement payments ranging from $200 to $2,243.
Police discovered that the victim owed $30,809 to New Seasons of New Britain, a residential community at 800 Manor Drive in Chalfont that she moved to in August 2017. By February 2018, New Seasons informed her no payments were received since December 2017, police said. The victim wrote a check for $6,000 to New Seasons to cover the debt, but was told the check did not clear, police said. It turned out that Matlack allegedly placed a stop payment on the check, police said.
The alleged victim was then evicted for failure to pay her debt and was relocated to Greenfield Senior Living in June 2018, police said. Police said two checks were written to the facility to cover a security deposit and first month rent, but after that, the checks stopped coming. The victim wrote a check for the past due of $3,496 in September 2018, but, police said, Matlack once again stopped payment on the check.
Police said the victim’s debt continued to grow as personal checks were repeatedly written to Matlack’s personal checking account.
Police obtained text messages from January to August 2019 between the victim and Matlack, in which the former repeatedly asked Matlack to urgently contact her regarding unpaid bills. On Aug. 23, 2019, Matlack allegedly texted her sister to request a new Wells Fargo card, as her accounts had been wiped out: “I know it’s your money … I just need to know if you did something or if you’re (sic) account has been compromised.”
The victim notified Matlack the same day that her power of attorney was revoked. Police said Matlack on the same day wire transferred $1,700 from her sister’s retirement account to her personal checking account, and then wire transferred another $3,000 four days later.
Police said Greenfield staff attempted to contact Matlack 22 separate times for payment, and, at times, Matlack presented various inconsistent excuses. Staff even resorted to sending Matlack certified letters, police said.
Police discovered Matlack was fired from her job in 2017. Police obtained Matlack’s PNC Bank records and found she had a 95.58% debt-to-income ratio from May to December 2017, based on aggregated monthly income and expenses, police said. Police also completed a comparable debt-to-income ratio without the alleged victim’s money factored in, during the time Matlack was unemployed from December 2017 to August 2019, and found it to be 182%, police said.
Police also allege the suspect used some of her sister’s money to pay down a payment plan of Matlack’s husband, which was related to restitution owed by him of $14,969 from a criminal proceeding.
Police concluded that as Matlack’s regular income decreases, expenses remained constant, and large portions of her sister’s money were moved into Matlack’s personal checking account to offset the income difference, police said.
“Had Ms. Matlack followed notices she agreed to within the power of attorney, her account should have reflected an approximate negative of $52,693.17 balance based on her spending habits,” wrote Hatfield Township Detective Alex Marchak in the complaint. “However, at the end of August 2019, her personal bank balance was positive $5,117.83 due to her funding her own personal life, expenses, and spending habits at (her sister’s) expense.”
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