Source: RLSmedia.com
Advancing its efforts to protect elderly and disabled individuals from abuse and neglect in institutional settings, the New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) today announced charges against four defendants in three separate cases tied to residential care facilities.
Officials say the charges were contained in three separate indictments handed up by a state Grand Jury in Trenton today.
In the first indictment, two women employed as psych aides at Bancroft Neurohealth in Mt. Laurel, were charged with physically abusing a disabled resident in their care at the facility for developmentally disabled adults and children.
According to officials, Martha Ruiz, 25, of Camden, and Kendall Crouch, 24, of Clementon, who were assigned to care for the man during a shift on June 1, 2018, allegedly struck him in the face, twisted his hand and wrist, forcefully restrained him to his bed, and forced a urine-soaked towel on his face. Both women were charged with conspiracy, neglect of disabled person, and endangering another person.
In the second indictment, Karissa-Anne Frannicola, 29, of Caldwell was charged with theft by failure to make disposition of property received and misapplication of entrusted property in connection with thefts that occurred between April and August of 2017. She is accused of stealing approximately $20,530 from an elderly nursing home resident over whom she had power of attorney.
In the third indictment, Christine Sanford, 31, of Atlantic City allegedly assumed the identity of another CNA to obtain work at the facility because her own Nurse Aide certification had been revoked by the New Jersey Department of Health in 2017 after she was found unqualified for certification pursuant to State law. She is charged with forgery, identify theft, and uttering of false government documents.
The indictments obtained today stem from investigations conducted by OIFP’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), which receives federal funding to investigate and prosecute Medicaid provider fraud, as well as the abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients or patients who reside in facilities that receive Medicaid funding.
Punishment for these offenses carry a sentence ranging from 1 1/2 to five years in state prison, and fines from $5,000 to $15,000.