Northumberland couple charged with $80,000 theft from of a Nottingham Village resident

Nov. 3—SUNBURY — A Northumberland couple faces felony theft charges after the state Attorney General's Office said they conspired to take $80,000 from an 85-year old Nottingham Village resident while acting as a power of attorney.

Melissa Hoy, 55, of Hanover Street, and Todd Hoy, 51, of Queen Street, were charged Wednesday by the state Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigations Unit with felony theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.

Both will now appear before Sunbury District Judge Mike Toomey on the charges.

A special agent in the unit said an investigation showed the Hoys used a woman's bank account to make purchases for personal expenses, gas, heating oil, dinners, and a vacation in Maryland.

In one case, the agent said a check was written to a sporting goods store for sneakers and when Melissa Hoy was asked about the purchase, Hoy said she purchased the sneakers for the woman in Nottingham Village. Agents said the shoes that were purchased were not in the woman's room.

Employees at Nottingham who were interviewed told the agent they only saw Melissa Hoy visit "two or three times," the agent said.

The woman was living in Nottingham since 2013, the agent said.

The investigation began after the Northumberland County Area on Aging discovered a significant amount of money was spent, an agent said. As part of the probe, an audit was conducted in June 2020 showing exploitation of a senior citizen, according to court documents.

In April, the attorney general's office spoke with Melissa Hoy and said the woman admitted to misusing the money. She also said she used a credit card in Ocean City, Maryland in July 2019.

In July Todd Hoy was interviewed by investigators and allegedly admitted to buying heating oil, gas and food and gifts, according to authorities.