- A home healthcare worker is in trouble with the law, accused of stealing from an elderly client with dementia.
Grace Deguia-Reed, 46, of Perry Township, has been charged with identity theft, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, and related offenses. She is now free on $10,000 unsecured bail.
The charges stem from an investigation that was launched in May by the Pennsylvania State Police, who said that Deguia-Reed began to drain the assets and savings of an 83-year-old woman she was paid to care for at the woman's home in Rockland Township.
Investigators said Deguia-Reed took advantage of the woman's disability and either convinced her to cash in three life insurance policies for nearly $181,000, or she did so herself.
Then, between April 2015 and April 2016, Deguia-Reed deposited $70,849.35 worth of checks from the woman into her own accounts, according to court documents released Thursday [August 10]. She also attempted to cash a $75,000 check, with plans to buy a property with the money, police said.
Investigators also cited evidence that Deguia-Reed attempted to get the woman to obtain a reverse mortgage and have her property logged for more assets.
Deguia-Reed was also in possession of a 2015 Jeep Cherokee that was leased and registered to the woman without her knowledge, police said.
In addition, evidence points to Deguia-Reed using fraudulent forms to obtain her job as a home healthcare worker, according to court documents.
Source: Police: Home healthcare worker stole from elderly client (Grace Deguia-Reed free on $10,000 bail).