Woman Charged with Financial Exploitation of Residents in Two Oklahoma Nursing Homes
A woman working as the business office manager in nursing homes in two Oklahoma counties has been jailed and charged with a total of 27 counts of financial exploitation of a resident by a caregiver—21 counts from one nursing home and 6 counts from the other.
The woman handled residents’ accounts in her role as business manager and allegedly would withholdmoney from residents’ monthly Medicaid stipends and place it in a petty cash trust account. Then she would write checks and withdraw money for herself. She would also request money from residents’ personal accounts without their permission and have that money brought back from the bank in cash and under the guise of supposedly distributing the money to the residents to purchase personal items. However, instead of giving the money to the residents, she kept it for herself.
It is estimated that she stole almost $30,000 from 21 different residents in one facility. No reports have been issued on the amount stolen from the residents in the other nursing home.
Compliance Perspective
Failing to prevent the financial exploitation of a nursing home’s residents by an employee with uncontrolled access to both the receipt and distribution of residents’ personal spending accounts and Medicaid stipends may be considered a violation of residents rights regarding the facility’s responsibility to protect and manage residents’ personal funds and be considered fraud and provision of sub-standard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) requiring separation of staff duties involving the receipt and disbursement of residents’ personal spending accounts and Medicaid stipends.
- Train business office personnel on protocols for maintaining checks and balances and the separation of duties regarding receipts and disbursements of residents’ personal spending accounts and Medicaid stipends.
- Periodically audit residents’ personal spending accounts and their Medicaid stipend funds to ensure that funds received and withdrawn are supported by proper documentation. Also, periodically interview residents to determine if they received the money documented as requested from their personal spending accounts.
