Former aide at Telford personal care home accused of stealing thousands from residents
A former health aide who worked at a Telford personal care center is accused of stealing debit and credit cards from elderly residents and using them to make thousands of dollars in unauthorized purchases.
Telford Police initially charged Crystal Bianca Brito, 29, of Macungie, with 37 felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly using the debit card of a resident of the Lutheran Community of Telford, but would later identify additional alleged victims.
Authorities allege Brito, who was one of the aides assigned to the woman, made $1,254 in unauthorized transactions using the woman’s card in November and December.
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Most of the transactions occurred in the greater Allentown areas where Brito lives including a cluster of purchases near her home, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Additional evidence showed Brito had online purchases shipped to her home, police said.
After Brito was arrested in January she claimed that the victim was her only one and she planned to repay the money, according to the affidavit.
But soon after police learned two more Lutheran Community residents who Brito worked for as a health aide reported they had unauthorized transactions on their accounts.
A friend of a 79-year-old resident who lived in the dementia wing of the home reported 24 unauthorized charges on the woman’s stolen debit card. Only $248 in charges were approved and another $4,000 charges were declined, police said.
Most of the charges were in-person transactions in Macungie and Allentown areas, police said. One transaction was at a Wawa in Souderton, one mile from the Lutheran home, the affidavit said. A surveillance image of the customer using the card matched Brito, police said.
A third victim had 71 unauthorized transactions totaling more than $4,600 made between mid-December and early January, police said. Home staff confirmed that the victim’s card was stolen.
Many of the transactions were made in the same locations in Macungie and Allentown, but this victim was 90-years-old, living in the healthcare pavilion of the home and did not travel, police said.
When investigators reviewed video surveillance at locations where the third victim’s card was used, a woman matching Brito’s description was observed as well as footage of a silver Grand Cherokee that Brito drives, the affidavit said.
Brito was arranged earlier this month on an additional 90 felony and related misdemeanor charges that occurred between November and January.
She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next month. She is free after posting $50,000 unsecured bail.
Her attorney Steven Mills did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Monday.
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Telford Police say health aide used stolen cards to charge thousands
