A woman was charged with one Class A felony charge of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer after allegedly stealing Social Security checks from a relative who is a resident at a New Hampshire nursing home. According to prosecutors, the defendant used her job as the nursing home’s billing coordinator to fraudulently bring her elderly relative’s bill to zero and then spent the money on herself.
A new billing coordinator, who took over the defendant’s position, discovered several discrepancies in an account and brought it to the attention of county officials, who turned it over to the attorney general’s office. The prosecutor for the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said the defendant is charged with taking $74,504 from her relative, and that she misappropriated Social Security checks from May 2019 to May 2022.
According to court documents, the defendant’s elderly relative, who has dementia, moved into the nursing home in 2018. Her rent at the facility was paid partly through her Social Security checks, with Medicaid covering the difference. The defendant, who had been employed at the facility as billing coordinator, had been responsible for those payments. Instead, she listed the account as owing zero, and opened a bank account, where she then deposited the Social Security checks. She allegedly used a debit card from the account 1,550 times, writing 77 checks, signed by her, listed as the power of attorney for her relative. There is no evidence her relative ever used the account.
If convicted, the defendant faces a penalty of up to 7½–15 years in the New Hampshire State Prison, and a $4,000 fine.
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. Every nursing facility should have a double check system in place for all monetary transactions, and all transactions should be reviewed and approved by a second party to prevent misappropriation of funds. People with legal obligations to handle finances include fiduciaries such as agents under power of attorney, trustees, guardians, conservators, Social Security representative payees, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fiduciaries. If family or other individuals step in to manage a resident’s finances, some may try to take money or assets for themselves, which can seriously impact the resident’s finances and may result in an inability to pay their nursing home or assisted living community bills. A facility is required to report any allegations of misappropriation or exploitation of a resident’s funds or personal property to the State Agency and to appropriate local authorities.
Discussion Points
- Review the facility’s policies and procedures on accounting and the use of facility and resident funds. Also review your policies and procedures for working with residents’ financial caregivers. Update as necessary.
- Train appropriate staff on your policies for financial accounting and the protection and approved use of facility and resident funds. Also train appropriate staff to monitor payments to the nursing home or assisted living community, as unpaid bills may be a result of financial abuse of the resident. Document that the training occurred, and place the signed document in each employee’s education file.
- Audit to ensure that residents’ bills are being paid, and that resident financial caregiver documentation is on file, such as copies of a power of attorney instrument, Social Security representative payee authorization, or a guardianship court order. Periodically audit to ensure that all monetary transactions have been double-checked and approved by a second party, and that all transactions have been previously approved. Ensure that an independent audit is conducted at least annually. Also audit staff understanding to ensure that they are aware of the steps that should be taken if they suspect theft, and their reporting options, including the use of the anonymous hotline.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
