When Charles McCullough was serving as co-trustee and power of attorney for an Upper St. Clair widow, he made several requests to PNC Bank on how to spend the woman’s money.

He requested that his sister be hired as Shirley Jordan’s companion at a rate of $60 per hour.

He wanted the bank to release money for Ms. Jordan to buy property from another of his clients.

He asked Ms. Jordan to donate $10,000 to Catholic Charities, which at the time was run by his wife.

And he requested his young son be paid to mow the woman’s yard.

Those instances were just a few laid out by the prosecution Monday during the first day of Mr. McCullough’s nonjury trial before Senior Judge Lester G. Nauhaus in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Mr. McCullough, a former Allegheny County councilman, was charged more than six years ago with nearly two dozen counts, including theft, misapplication of funds, making false statements and conspiracy.

Also charged is his sister, Kathleen McCullough, 52. She faces counts of theft and conspiracy.

The case languished for years with postponements and questions about jurisdiction going up to the state’s appellate courts. Mr. McCullough argued that criminal court did not have jurisdiction over his case because questions about the expenditures from the trust had been approved in orphans court.

During that time, Ms. Jordan died.

Mr. McCullough began his work with Ms. Jordan in early 2006 and worked with Thomas Gray, a relationship manager with PNC Bank, to establish a trust for the then-90-year-old woman, whose financial worth was about $14 million. At the time, bank officials had discovered that Ms. Jordan was accumulating several large checks that were not being deposited into her bank account. They then learned that many of her bills, including utilities and taxes, were going unpaid, Mr. Gray testified.

“She thought she was fairly poor,” Mr. Gray said. “She just didn’t think she had a lot of money to live on.”

Mr. McCullough became a trustee for Ms. Jordan, and at one point requested that some of her money be used to buy land from another client of his and to use $500,000 to buy a certificate of deposit, Mr. Gray said.

Neither of those requests were approved.

Frances Johnston, a senior vice president for PNC Wealth Management, said Mr. McCullough’s requests worried bank officials, specifically because of his dual role in Ms. Jordan’s finances as power of attorney and co-trustee.

Three PNC employees who testified said that no one ever approved the $60 per hour rate paid to Ms. McCullough.

“Despite that no one approved this rate, PNC paid this bill?” Judge Nauhaus asked.

“That’s correct, your honor,” Mr. Gray answered.

Lana Boehm, an administrative officer with PNC who worked on Ms. Jordan’s trust, testified that she saw Mr. McCullough’s request to have the woman buy real estate from another of his clients as a conflict of interest.

“If the conflict is disclosed, and the person still wants to do that, is there anything wrong with that?” asked Mr. McCullough’s defense attorney, Jon Pushinsky.

“No,” Ms. Boehm answered.

Both Ms. Boehm and Ms. Johnston testified that the request for Mr. McCullough’s son to do yard work was problematic. Ms. Johnston said Ms. Jordan already had someone performing that service. Using a child for the work could have caused liability issues if he were hurt on the job.

Judge Nauhau at one point questioned the practices of PNC, which allowed Ms. Jordan’s trust to be created with only her signature — witnessed by two bank employees — and then notarized at a later time outside the woman’s presence.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Judge Nauhaus said. “The notary wasn’t there when Shirley Jordan signed this? This is the way PNC does business?”

“This is the way PNC did business,” answered assistant district attorney John Fitzgerald.

Later, Ms. Johnston explained that because Ms. Jordan had a signature card on file with the bank that, at the time, having a notary present wasn’t required. That practice was halted after the incident involving Ms. Jordan’s account, Ms. Johnston confirmed.

Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter; @PaulaReedWard.

First Published: April 13, 2015, 4:12 p.m.
Updated: April 14, 2015, 4:14 a.m.