A home health aide admitted stealing more than $17,000 from a patient to feed her Kratom habit.
Elizabeth Marie Patsches, 24, of Silver Springs, was arrested Monday on charges of exploitation of the elderly, fraud, theft and forgery.
She was employed by Vicroy Home LLC and worked for a female patient from November until this month at American House assisted living in Wildwood, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. Patsches had been hired to assist the woman, who is legally blind, with “daily tasks and necessities.” A cousin of the woman was present when she was interviewed by police.
During a review of the woman’s bank statements, it was discovered that Patsches used the woman’s Chase Bank credit card to make three purchases in excess of $500 at the 7-Eleven at the Beaumont Development on County Road 466A, which is close to American House. This prompted a visit to Chase Bank where the woman and her cousin learned her balance had “significantly decreased.” They discovered there had been a total of $17,290 in unauthorized purchases on the woman’s credit card. They also learned that Patsches wrote out fraudulent checks from the woman’s bank account in an attempt to make payments to the credit cart account “for inflated balances.” Patsches told the woman the checks had been issued for “lesser amounts.”…