Former Fox News Personality Cathy Areu Arrested On Charges Of 'Kidnapping' And 'Exploiting' Elderly Mother
Dec. 10 2022, Published 12:30 p.m. ET
Television personality and self-proclaimed "liberal sherpa" Cathy Areu has been arrested after being accused of repeatedly exploiting her 88-year-old mother.
The former Fox News guest and podcast host, who was known for providing a different political perspective on the notoriously conservative media outlet, was taken into custody and booked into a Miami jail on Friday, December 9.
She is now facing a series of felony charges, including: exploitation of the elderly, kidnapping and being involved in an organized scheme to defraud.
Miami-Dade County prosecutors alleged that Areu not only stole roughly $224,000 from her elderly mother by taking out credit cards in her name, taking control of her reverse mortgage and stealing directly from her savings accounts, but that she also used a revoked power of attorney to put her into a nursing home without her consent — twice.
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According to prosecutors, who have been investigating the incidents since 2019, Areu is believed to have initially tricked her mother into going to the elder care home by telling her she was going to take her out for ice cream with her grandchildren. She then reportedly instructed staff not to allow her to have any visitors or make any phone calls. Her mother was later determined to be fully mentally competent and released from the medical facility.
However, the second time, Areu allegedly forcibly dragged her mother from her property to put her into the home.
The 51-year-old has been evading criminal charges since June when a judge first signed a warrant. She is believed to have spent time in Mexico for some time to avoid arrest.
"Every incident of alleged elder exploitation or abuse touches our heart and never fails to shock us," attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in the statement at the time. "It seems particularly harder to understand when the alleged perpetrator of the exploitation is a daughter, or a son or another blood relative."
Areu is currently still in police custody and is being held without bond. Fox News removed her profile on their website following her arrest.