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The self-proclaimed ‘liberal sherpa’ who was once a regular on Fox News stole at least $224,000 from her 88-year-old mother and physically dragged the old woman to a nursing home against her will, authorities said Friday. from Florida.
Cathy Areu, 51, faces numerous felony charges including kidnapping, exploitation of the elderly, and organized scheme to defraud. She is being held without bond at the Miami-Dade County Jail.
Areu previously appeared as an unpaid guest on various Fox News shows until 2020, when she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit naming hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, a claim that was later thrown out by a judge.
Miami-Dade County prosecutors say she forged documents to take control of her mother’s home, siphoned money from her mother’s reverse mortgage and savings account, and took out credit cards in her mother’s name and then he used them for his own benefit.
Cathy Areu, 51, is seen following her arrest Friday in Miami on numerous felony charges including kidnapping, exploitation of the elderly and organized scheme to defraud
“Every incident of alleged elder exploitation or abuse touches our hearts and never ceases to shock us,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement.
“It seems particularly difficult to understand when the alleged perpetrator of the exploitation is a daughter, son or other blood relative,” Rundle added.
According to Areu’s Fox News profile, which has since been deleted, she is a former contributing editor at the Washington Post magazine, where she conducted political interviews from 2001 to 2012, and in 2001 founded Catalina magazine.
Above is the mother of Areu, 88 years old.
Her magazine sought to “break stereotypes and show a positive side of the US Hispanic community,” the biography said.
Areu, also known as Cathy Areu Jones, also hosted the ‘Liberal Sherpa’ podcast. Fox removed Areu’s profile after her arrest became widely known.
In 2018, Areu was an unpaid regular guest on conservative commentator Carlson’s show and appeared on other Fox News shows, where she championed progressive ideals in banter with hosts and other guests.
In 2020, he sued the network, Carlson, Hannity, and others, alleging sexual harassment, but a judge threw out the lawsuit the following year.
The self-proclaimed ‘Liberal Sherpa’ was once an unpaid regular guest on Fox News
Details of Areu’s arrest were not released, but prosecutors said he had been evading authorities since June, including spending time in Mexico. She was being held without bail Friday at the county jail.
Court and jail records do not show if you have a lawyer speaking for you.
According to prosecutors, the investigation began in 2019 when state officials received reports that Areu was exploiting his mother.
Paperwork for the delivery of the mother’s house to Areu had been presented, but the mother denied that the signature was hers.
They say Areu also used a revoked power of attorney to twice place his mother in a nursing home against her will.
Areu is seen on the Tucker Carlson show in 2018. He did not appear on the network after filing a lawsuit in 2020 alleging sexual harassment, which was later thrown out by a judge.
In the first case, they say that Areu deceived his mother into believing that they were taking her to have ice cream with her granddaughters, but instead they took her to a home.
When the mother tried to call a friend for help, Area allegedly told staff not to let her use the phone or have visitors.
After doctors and officials found the woman competent to make her own decisions and released her to go home, prosecutors say Areu and another person physically dragged her out of her home and took her to another facility. .
Once again, the woman was released after being deemed competent and told to go home.
Authorities say the investigation is continuing.