On Monday of this week, A caregiver was sentenced to five years in state prison for stealing more than $315,000 from a 92-year-old woman by stealing the victim’s debit card and forging checks from the victim’s account. The District Attorney’s office indicated this type of crime is not uncommon.
Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche of the Major Fraud Unit who prosecuted this case, said of the 92 year old victim, “She’s a sharp lady—she’s really a sweet lady, but she is from a time when you trusted your neighbor. She said when she grew up; you left your doors unlocked.
She trusted her {the defendant} and she was nice. This is just a bad pattern we’re seeing, it’s just unfortunate.” Labreche indicated he is seeing many of these cases. “This is actually one of the smaller dollar losses that I have in my caseload.”
Labreche indicated that the elderly victim had no relatives to help manage her affairs. This made her an easier target. Also, the defendant was not someone just hired off a street corner. She was hired by the victim through Alexandra Nurses Registry, a south county agency.
Labreche said he was unable to confirm or deny the existence of any on going investigation of the agency and he would not provide any contact information either. Without any criminal action against the agency, any recourse the victim might have against the agency is a civil matter and the DA’s office would not be involved.
Further, doing a back ground check on the caregiver would not have been of any help either. According to Labreche, the defendant had no prior criminal record. He indicated that under the sentencing laws, the defendant could be eligible for parole in as little as two and one half years.
The text of the DA’s office release follows:
Susana Duran, 38, pleaded guilty to one felony count of financial elder abuse by a caregiver and a sentencing enhancement for fraud over $250,000. In addition to the five year prison sentence, Duran is ordered to pay $315,000 in restitution. The victim will receive over $50,000 immediately from $34,000 in bank account assets seized from Duran and an additional $17,000 in cash found on the defendant at the time of her arrest.
Beginning in January 2008, Duran worked as an in-home caregiver for 92-year-old Jane Doe. The defendant commuted daily from her home in Mexico to the victim’s Laguna Woods home, working shifts up to 24 hours at a time. Duran stole the victim’s bank debit card and personal identification number without Jane Doe’s knowledge, made multiple daily cash withdrawals of $500 at a time, and used the victim’s debit card to make purchases including gasoline and a computer.
Duran wrote 24 checks to herself and her husband totaling over $137,000 from the victim’s check book and forged Jane Doe’s signature without her consent. The defendant stole a total of more than $315,000 from Jane Doe.
Jane Doe discovered the theft after Duran called in sick one day and another caregiver showed the victim a bank statement, which arrived that day in the mail. Duran was arrested Oct. 6, 2009, by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) when she arrived for work at Jane Doe’s home. At the time of her arrest, Duran had $17,000 cash in her possession.
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About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
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