A 44-year-old nurse aide was arrested after reports were made of theft and fraudulent charges on the accounts of two residents at a California nursing home. On September 23rd, the son of a 73-year-old resident reported finding that his mother’s debit card had been stolen and fraudulently used to make over 100 purchases/withdrawals between April 2022 and August 2022 (over $10,000 worth of charges). The son realized there was a problem with his mother’s accounts when he discovered that the rent to her apartment had stopped being paid because of insufficient funds. On October 20th the brother of a 70-year-old former resident, who is now deceased, reported finding numerous fraudulent purchases made the week his sister died.
During the course of the investigation, numerous fraudulent online purchases were identified, as well as cash withdrawals by the nurse aide.
On November 22nd, detectives arrested the aide outside of the nursing home on suspicion of identity theft, grand theft, financial elder abuse by a caregiver, and unauthorized use of an access/debit card. On November 23rd, the suspect was charged with financial elder abuse by a caregiver (2 counts) and identity theft (2 counts).
Compliance Perspective
Issue
F602 in the State Operations Manual, Appendix PP, states that residents have the right to be free from abuse, neglect, and misappropriation of resident property. Misappropriation of resident property means the deliberate misplacement, exploitation, or wrongful, temporary, or permanent use of a resident’s belongings or money without the resident’s consent. Facilities must have systems in place to safeguard against any misappropriation of a resident’s funds. Examples of misappropriation of resident property include, but are not limited to:
- Identity theft;
- Theft of money from bank accounts;
- Unauthorized or coerced purchases on a resident’s credit card;
- Unauthorized or coerced purchases from resident’s funds;
- A resident who provides a gift to staff in order to receive ongoing care, based on staff’s persuasion; and
- A resident who provides monetary assistance to staff, after staff had made the resident believe that the staff member was in a financial crisis.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on preventing, identifying, and reporting misappropriation of resident’s belongings or funds to ensure that they meet all requirements of federal and state regulations.
- Provide staff training on the CMS regulations for residents’ rights to be free from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and misappropriation of personal property; staff members’ responsibility to prevent these from occurring; and their personal liability if they commit any of these violations. Educate residents and family members on the importance of monitoring their monthly bank and credit card balances and immediately reporting any concerns to facility administration or through the hotline.
- Periodically audit resident fund accounts to ensure that no misappropriation has occurred. Interview residents to determine if they have concerns about the safety of their belongings or funds.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
