Hiring a home healthcare aide to take care of a loved one can be an overwhelming process. Many people go through an agency because potential candidates are usually thoroughly vetted (emphasis on “usually”) and replacements can be made if they are not satisfactory. Unfortunately, a Missouri home healthcare aide used her position to carry out an identity theft fraud scheme and now her victims are collectively missing more than $30,000. (That definitely qualifies as unsatisfactory.)
The aide at the center of this case was employed as a certified nurse’s assistant caregiver for a healthcare company that focuses on serving senior adults. During her three-month employment, she was assigned to provide in-home care to an elderly patient. (This is the point where she used her position to access her elderly patient’s personal information.)
The in-home caregiver used her patient’s personally identifiable information (PII) to open numerous lines of credit. Then she went on a few shopping sprees at the mall and online. The aide even paid off some personal bills for family and friends. (How generous of her to rob her victims of their life savings to pay off someone else’s debt. Even Robin Hood would be ashamed of this fraudster.)
But that wasn’t all. She also illegally accessed one of her victim’s investment accounts without their knowledge and made several money transfers to accounts she controlled. (She effectively stole her patient’s life savings right out from underneath them.) To date, investigators have revealed that the home caregiver defrauded 13 elderly people and six financial institutions of approximately $30,000.
The 27-year-old fraudster from St. Louis pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. (I bet the families of her victims were extremely aggravated after discovering the person they had trusted to look after their loved one took advantage of them.) The former healthcare aide received a sentence of 45 months in prison for her identity theft fraud crimes. She was also ordered to pay back restitution of $31,470 to her victims.
When looking for an in-home caregiver for an elderly person, it is important to thoroughly check a candidate’s references and complete a background check before signing on the dotted line. It’s also a good idea to hire someone who is licensed and bonded. While Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, this devious woman, who was no Maid Marian, stole from vulnerable senior citizens to make herself rich. (Here’s hoping that her career in senior caregiving is officially over.)
Today’s “Fraud of the Day” is based on an article entitled, “Former caregiver gets prison for fraud” published by the St. Louis Business Journal on.
De’Janay Noldon has been sentenced to 45 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of mail fraud and identity theft in connection with a scheme involving Seniors Health Care in Webster Groves.
Noldon, 27, was employed as a certified nurse’s assistant caregiver at Seniors Health Care from February 2016 to May 2016, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
