OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — A 44-year-old nursing assistant has been arrested and charged with defrauding two elderly residents of the nursing home where she worked. The assistant, described in a City of Berkeley press release as a 44-year-old Oakland woman, was arrested on Nov. 22 by Berkeley detectives.
The arrest stems from reports of theft and fraudulent charges on the accounts of two elders at the Kyakameena Care Center nursing home. According to the press release, on Sept. 23 the adult son of one 73-year-old woman being cared for at the facility reported finding his mother’s debit card had been stolen and fraudulently used to make over 100 purchases and withdrawals between April and August of 2022.
Charges amounted to more than $10,000, according to police. The son realized there was a problem when he discovered that the rent to his mother’s apartment hadn’t been made due to insufficient funds.
Then on Oct. 10, the brother of a 70-year-old woman who had stayed at the same facility before passing away reported finding numerous fraudulent purchases made the week she had passed. A Berkeley PD investigation was launched, according to the press release. Numerous fraudulent online purchases and cash withdrawals were discovered and traced to an employee of Kyakameena Care, a 44-year-old Oakland woman.
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She was arrested outside the facility on Nov. 22 on suspicion of:
- Identity theft
- Grand theft
- Financial elder abuse by a caregiver
- Unauthorized use of an access/debit card
The suspect was charged on Nov. 23 by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office of two counts of financial elder abuse by a caregiver and two counts of identity theft.
