Thread: CA-Caregiver gets 5 years for stealing from 92-year-old

Caregiver gets 5 years for stealing from 92-year-old

Monday, October 26, 2009
By LARRY WELBORN
The Orange County Register

Defendant used debit card without 92-year-old victim's consent and forged personal checks for a loss of more than $300,000.

SANTA ANA – A caregiver was sentenced today to five years in prison for stealing more than $315,000 from a 92-year-old Laguna Woods woman by using the victim's debit card and forging checks from her bank account.

Susana Duran, 38, of Tijuana, Mexico, pleaded guilty to financial elder abuse by a caregiver, plus a sentencing enhancement for fraud over $250,000.

Duran was also ordered to pay restitution.

The elderly victim will receive more than $50,000 immediately, including $34,000 in bank account assets and $17,000 in cash found on Duran when she was arrested, according to a new release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Duran started working as an in-home caregiver for the 92-year-old victim in January 2008, commuting from her home in Mexico and working shifts up to 24 hours at a time.

She stole the victim's debit card and personal identification number to make multiple daily cash withdrawals of $500 at a time, and to make purchases such as gasoline and a computer, according to Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche, of the Major Fraud Unit.

Duran also forged 24 checks to herself and her husband for more than $137,000, LaBreche said.

The thefts were uncovered when Duran called in sick one day and another caregiver showed the victim a bank statement which had arrived that day in the mail.

Duran was arrested on Oct. 5 by the Orange County Sheriff's Department when she arrived for work at the victim's home.

Contact the writer: lwelborn@ocregister.com or 714-834-3784

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dura ... -bank-home

The thefts were uncovered when Duran called in sick one day

I bet she regrets calling in sick

The thefts were uncovered when Duran called in sick one day and another caregiver showed the victim a bank statement which had arrived that day in the mail.

Someone was looking out for this elderly lady.