A Kitchener man has been charged with fraud and theft after allegedly abusing his power of attorney and taking thousands from his elderly mother's bank accounts.

"A woman had her son steal basically her entire life savings," said Guelph police Const. Mike Gatto.

The accused is 63, and his mother, 88.

"Her son was her power of attorney for both personal care and financials and through those means he was able to defraud her of what has turned out to be over $62,000."

Power of attorney allows a third party, often a relative, legal authority over an individual's finances or health care.

"I don't know whether it was other family members who found something was wrong or if the mother herself came to realize that she had no money left, I'm not sure which scenario played out," said Gatto. "Certainly those are both possibilities."

Gatto said Guelph police's fraud unit was first tipped off in December of 2015.

The man was charged with fraud over $5,000, criminal breach of trust and theft by person holding power of attorney. He will appear in court in August.