Caregiver accused of stealing over $10,000 from elderly Los Altos Hills couple
LOS ALTOS HILLS – A caregiver to an elderly South Bay couple has been arrested on elder abuse charges after he allegedly used their debit card to steal thousands of dollars from the couple, deputies said Tuesday.
According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, the suspect stole the card from a Los Altos Hills couple and made 15 unauthorized withdrawals from ATMs in Mountain View, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale in December 2023. Four of the withdrawals took place at 7-Eleven ATMs in Santa Clara, while the other transactions occurred at Bank of America ATMs.
Deputies said $10,607 was stolen over the span of two weeks.
The fraud was not reported to the sheriff's office until February, when the victims' daughter was preparing tax documents.
On April 16, deputies arrested the suspect, identified as 44-year-old Gerald Camposanto Cerillo of Santa Clara. Cerillo worked for a company that provides caretaking services and was assigned to the Los Altos Hills couple.
Deputies said he was identified by his employer as the man appearing in an ATM surveillance video. He was hired by the company in September 2023 after passing a background check.
Cerillo claimed to have four years' experience as a caregiver.
Cerillo was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail. He has been charged with financial elder abuse by a caregiver along with unlawful use of a debit card.
Deputies said Tuesday that there may be other victims, saying that similar fraud allegations surfaced from a different employer in June 2023.
Anyone who may have additional information about Cerillo is asked to reach the sheriff's office West Valley Detectives at 408-868-6600.