Thursday, June 28, 2012

2 Health Aides Swindle 99-Year-Old Patient Out Of $400,000?

Angela Byrd, 45, and Tanecia Josephs, 25, are accused of allegedly swindling a 99-year-old out of nearly $400,000 by allegedly padding their paychecks and writing themselves additional checks. The pair were arrested and charged with grand theft and exploitation of the elderly, reports the Sun Sentinel.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home health aides were hired independently by the unidentified victim four years ago, because she needed constant round-the-clock care. The woman’s relatives summoned police when they began to notice that the victim’s care increasingly became exorbitantly costly.

Byrd, who was the alleged victim’s first hire, was employed from January 2008 to March 2010. During her term of employment, Byrd reportedly pocketed a whopping $341,230. Byrd’s modus operandi would be to add more wages to her salary and coax the elderly woman into giving her additional checks, which were labeled as “gifts and loans.”

The patient was reportedly under the impression that she had been paying her health aides $15 per hour in wages.

Assistant State Attorney Eric Lidner told the Sun Sentinel that during Byrd’s hearing on Wednesday, “[Angela Byrd] allegedly was telling the other health care workers that they’d gotten raises when they in fact hadn’t. She was deceiving her co-workers to get her money, to steal more money from this victim.”

Josephs, who is in fact a teacher’s assistant but who moonlighted as a home health aide, temporarily took Byrd’s place from August to October 2008. The young woman is accused of stealing $45, 355 from the victim. The elderly woman, whose memory is sketchy, does not remember Joseph ever covering for Byrd at this point in time.

A Broward County judge has set bail at $175,000 for Byrd and $35,000 for Josephs.


Angela Byrd (pictured left), 45, and Tanecia Josephs (pictured right)

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