Arlington Heights Nursing Home Assistant Sentenced for Stealing from 89-year-old Resident
Winona Nelson has been sentenced to five years in prison for financial exploitation of an elderly person. The 31-year-old Chicago resident had committed the theft in 2009 after she was fired from The Moorings, an Arlington Heights nursing home where her 89-year-old victim, a dementia patient, lived. She was able to electronically withdraw $6,070 from the elderly woman’s bank account.
According to Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Sherie DeDore, Nelson had misrepresented herself as a certified nursing assistant when the Arlington Heights nursing home hired her. Nelson was at the assisted living facility for just a month before she was let go. She has prior criminal convictions for burglary and forgery.
Elder Financial Abuse
Elderly patients, especially those who are suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer’s, are easy targets for people intent on committing elder financial fraud. Caregivers and nursing home workers have the advantage of being in constant and close proximity to the patient and his/her personal belongings, which can make it easy to access account information and other important financial data. They also will likely have gained the patient’s trust.
Financially exploiting an elderly person is a crime. If money was stolen from your loved one by a nursing home worker, you may have grounds for pursuing a Chicago nursing home negligence lawsuit against the facility where the elder financial fraud occurred.
Unfortunately, many victims of elder financial fraud do not know that they are being targeted or, if they do, they may be afraid, ashamed, or, due to health limitations, unable to report what has happened.
Nursing assistant sentenced in theft, Chicago Tribune, June 11, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Elder Fraud by Relatives or Caregivers, DFI.Wa.Gov
Financial Abuse, National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
To find out if you have grounds for a case, contact our Chicago elder financial abuse lawyers today.
