DA: Home Health Aide Stole Over $260,000 From 98-Year-Old UES Woman
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A home health aide was charged Friday with stealing more than $260,000 from the 98-year-old woman she had been caring for on the Upper East Side.
As 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported, Stefany Hernandez, 25, was placed in a position of trust. But instead, she allegedly used her position as a home health aide to commit grand larceny.
Hernandez worked for the 98-year-old woman and her now-deceased husband on East 68th Street between the fall of 2012 and August 2014, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office. From Feb. 12, 2014 to March 26, 2015, Hernandez allegedly stole more than $260,000 from the woman by depositing and cashing forged checks from two of the woman's accounts, prosecutors alleged.
In all, she allegedly cashed or forged 102 checks, prosecutors said.
As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, Hernandez allegedly spent the money on personal expenses – including more than $35,000 in personal credit and payments, more than $18,000 on clothing and accessories from stores such as Bloomingdales and Barneys, and about $12,000 on airfare and hotels for trips to Miami and the Dominican Republic, prosecutors said.
Hernandez also took out more than $100,000 cash, and had taken every penny from the accounts by June 2015, prosecutors said.
After the victim's husband died at the age of 100 in January 2015, the victim's son and daughter and law discovered the alleged theft while reviewing financial records and reported it to the DA's office, prosecutors said.
Hernandez is charged with second-degree grand larceny.