Three home healthcare workers were arrested on Long Island for stealing from an 84-year-old Suffolk County woman who’d been under their care for nearly three years.
Danielle Guarino, 55; Teresa Garcia, 53; and Mamerta Gonzalez, 72, wrongfully took more than $172,000 from the elderly victim’s bank account, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said on Wednesday.
Investigators claim that the daughter of the unidentified octogenarian trusted Guarino with blank checks meant to be used to pay herself and the other caretakers, as well as cover her disabled mother’s expenses.
The workers were required to file time sheets so the woman they were caring for could get reimbursed by her insurance company. Investigators claim Guarino received $110,000 in excess of what was recorded on her timesheets, while Garcia collected over $43,000 above what she was owed and Gonzalez received more than $7,000 in unfounded payments.
Guarino is also accused of illegally using the victim’s credit cards to purchase more than $12,000 worth of goods on Amazon, then using the blank checks to pay the victim’s subsequent credit card bills. She was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of grand larceny and identity theft.
Garcia and Gonzalez were charged with grand larceny last week.
