Beaufort woman charged in theft of Social Security checks at Seneca nursing home

A Beaufort woman has been charged with two counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult after she allegedly stole Social Security and retirement checks from a man in a Seneca nursing home.

Sandra Smyth, 61 was charged Monday by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, according to a report by the Independent Mail.

Smyth is accused of taking monthly Social Security checks of $1,500 each and pension checks of $2,100 between Jan. 28 and Aug. 31 in 2012 from Robert Stone.

Smyth was acting as Stone’s guardian at the time of the theft, the news report said, and she deposited the checks into her own account at Walhalla Bank.

At the time of the alleged thefts, Stone lived at The Inn at Seneca, an assisted living facility, investigators said.

Smyth was taken to the Oconee County Detention Center. She was later released on a bond of $20,000.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Beaufort woman charged in theft of Social Security checks at Seneca nursing home."