Nursing assistant gets plastic surgery on credit card in patient’s name, Florida cops say

A certified nursing assistant opened a credit card in her Alzheimer’s patient’s name and used it to pay for plastic surgery, according to Florida police.

The patient, an 88-year-old woman, received a bill at her home in Deltona on April 4 for $7,160.11, according to an April 28 news release from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.

The woman’s husband told deputies that neither he nor his wife signed up for the credit card account, according to the release.

Investigators found that the card had been used for a $7,000 transaction at Moon Plastic Surgery in Miami, about 260 miles southeast of Deltona, the release says. The customer was identified as the in-home nursing assistant who was caring for the 88-year-old woman.

The nursing assistant, a 31-year-old woman, was suspended by her company, American In-Home Care, on April 4, according to deputies. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on April 28.

The nursing assistant denied opening a credit card in her patient’s name and denied getting plastic surgery, according to the sheriff’s office.

She then called her patient’s husband and asked if they could meet to arrange a “repayment plan,” the release says.

The nursing assistant went to her patient’s home on April 27 carrying an envelope containing $1,500 and a contract for a loan agreement, the release says. Deputies were waiting for her at the home and arrested her.

She was charged with grand theft and fraudulent use of identity without the consent of a victim 60 years or older, according to the sheriff’s office. She was released after posting $10,000 bail.

This story was originally published April 28, 2023 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Nursing assistant gets plastic surgery on credit card in patient’s name, Florida cops say."