Former 'Liberal Sherpa' on Fox News accused of kidnapping and swindling her mother out of $224,000

A liberal pundit who once made regular appearances on Fox News has now been accused of committing all kinds of atrocities against her mother so that she could steal the woman's money and assets.

Catherine Areu Jones, 51 — the "Liberal Sherpa" who used to appear regularly on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" and gave an often contrarian opinion about various issues — has been arrested after prosecutors say she kidnapped her 88-year-old mother, admitted her into assisted care facilities under false pretenses, and seized hundreds of thousands of dollars of the woman's cash, assets, and credit.

Investigators first began looking into Jones in 2019 when the Department of Children and Families received disturbing reports that she had committed elder abuse against her mother, whose name has not been given.

Jones "twice" used a revoked power of attorney to "involuntarily place her mother in assisted living facilities so that she could take financial gain of her mother’s banking account," said a press release from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.

First, Jones allegedly lured her mother out of her home under the pretense of going on an "ice cream outing" with her grandchildren. Once out of the home, Jones then transported her mother to an assisted living facility and told caretakers there that her mother suffered from dementia, the report claims. When her mother called another loved one for help, Jones allegedly returned to the facility and demanded that officials there take away the woman's phone and bar her from having visitors. When DCF personnel and medical teams at the facility determined that the woman did not have dementia, she was released.

On another occasion, Jones and a co-conspirator physically removed the woman from her home and admitted her into another facility, the press release claimed. A concerned neighbor contacted police after discovering the missing woman's shoe in the driveway and her front door wide open.

The list of financial crimes Jones also supposedly committed against her mother is extensive:

• She reportedly created or altered a quitclaim deed so that she could take over the title of her mother's home, though her mother denies ever signing the document.
• All of the proceeds of a reverse mortgage, which her mother did voluntarily sign, were directed into accounts which Jones controlled, the report says.
• Other financial records suggest that Jones opened credit cards in her mother's name and then used them herself.
• There are also several suspicious withdrawals from the woman's bank accounts that may be connected to Jones.
• In all, investigators believe that Jones stole $224,000 from her mother.

The State Attorney’s Office Elder Exploitation Task Force and the Miami-Dade Police Department have actually attempted to apprehend Jones since June, when a judge first signed a warrant for her arrest. However, Jones supposedly fled the area, even traveling as far as Mexico, to evade arrest.

On Friday, Jones was arrested and charged with several felonies, including: kidnapping, false imprisonment, exploitation of the elderly, organized scheme to defraud, conspiracy to commit organized scheme to defraud, and fraudulent use of personal identification. She is currently being held without bond.

Jones, then known as "Cathy Areu," used to appear frequently on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" to give a leftist perspective on various political and cultural issues, but her appearances stopped several years ago. Then in the summer of 2020, she and a former Fox News producer accused several on-air FNC personalities — including Carlson and fellow host, Sean Hannity — of sexual harassment. A judge later dismissed Areu's lawsuit.

The following is a clip from one of her appearances: