A Kissimmee attorney has been arrested and charged with grand theft in connection with making several unauthorized charges for more than $50,000 on a client’s credit cards.

Linda Littlefield, 38, whose office is at 404 Broadway, Kissimmee, also was charged with fraudulent use of credit cards. She was booked into the Osceola County Jail.

The unnamed victim told deputies that four years ago, in February of 2006, she contacted Littlefield’s law firm to set up a trust to acquire Medicaid for her husband, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Several months later, the victim said, the trust was established with $40,000. At that time, police said, Littlefield told members of the family they would need to surrender their credit cards and monthly bills so she could pay the balance from the trust fund.

In February of 2009, the victim's husband passed away. Last January, the victim began receiving credit card statements from one of the credit cards, with the balance being $14,924.14, but the victim told investigators she gave Littlefield the cards in 2006 with a zero balance. Detectives discovered Littlefield made five unauthorized charges totaling $53,793.62 on all of the credit cards, with all purchases made online for new office furniture and a trip to Cancun in July of 2008. Detectives report Littlefield used $7,900 from the trust account to pay some of the balances on the credit cards.

Last week, Littlefield met with detectives and told them the credit card charges were made by mistake. The online transactions, police said, required the use of the victim's husband's name, address and a security code.