A daughter has been accused of selling her mother’s house in The Villages, keeping the proceeds for herself and draining her bank account of more than $100,000.
Linda Diane Clark, 72, of St. Marys, Ga. is facing a felony charge of exploitation of the elderly after her sister’s accusation that Clark took money from their mother and gave it to her boyfriend, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
The mother had been living in a house in the Village of DeLuna. She had purchased it with her husband, who died in 2025 at age 94. After the husband’s death, Clark obtained a power of attorney and took over her mother’s finances. Clark sold the mother’s house in The Villages and moved the mother to Banyan Assisted Living on County Road 101 in Oxford. The sister checked her mother out of the assisted living facility and took her to Bradenton to stay with her. The sister said neither she nor her mother received any money from the sale of the house in the Village of DeLuna. The sister said she suspected Clark used the proceeds from the sale of the house to purchase a home for herself and her boyfriend.
The sister also obtained the mother’s Bank of America statements which revealed that Clark had written numerous checks from the mother’s bank account made payable to her boyfriend. The 20 checks made out to Clark’s boyfriend totaled $134,237.
The sister also documented that last year Clark opened a credit card account in her mother’s name with a credit limit of $21,600.
Clark was taken into custody and booked last week at the Sumter County Detention Center. She was released after posting $5,000 bond.