complaint·October 3, 2023

On 3/27/23, 8/10/23, 9/6/23 LPA contacted Detective Kyle Crowley from the Lakewood Sheriff Station Detective Bureau. On 9/20/23 LPA requested resignation letter for S2. The investigation revealed the following: Regarding allegation: Resident is being financially abused while in care. It is alleged an elderly person's (who lives at the facility) checks were stolen and written out in the amount of $20,000. R1 was admitted to the assisted living section of the facility on 4/13/22. At the time of admission, R1 did not have any signs of dementia, confusion, or inappropriate behaviors per physician's report. Care plan dated 5/11/22 does not note changes in mental condition. On 11/22/22 R1 was transferred to the hospital due to pain and returned to the facility’s skill nursing on 11/25/22. The facility began to see a decline in cognitive condition after that. Interview conducted with administration staff on 12/13/22 determined the Lakewood Sheriff’s Detective Bureau had conducted a visit on 12/1/22 regarding the above allegation. During that visit the Detective attempted to interview R1 and was not able due to R1’s cognitive skills. During LPA’s initial visit on 12/13/22 an interview was attempted with R1, however due to R1’s cognitive skills LPA was not able to obtain a response. Interview with R1’s bank consultant over the phone revealed there had seem to be suspicious checks cashed recently from R1’s account. R1 had been a customer of the bank for quite some time and the activity was not usual for R1. At least 50 checks were cash between $500 - $2000 dollars for a total of at least $50,000. On 1/25/23 facility received verbal communication from Detective Crowley that S1 had admitted to cashing checks for R1 and keeping a portion of the money. S1 was placed on administrative suspension effective 1/26/23 pending investigation. On 2/8/23 LPA obtained an updated via an incident report which provided Detective Crowley’s investigation update to the facility. Per the incident report Detective Crowley had informed facility’s administrator that S1 had been arrested for stealing over $50,000 dollars, writing over 80 checks since August 2022 from R1. The charges against S1 are money fraud, embezzlement, and grant theft. On the week of 2/20/23 Facility received a writing admission from Detective Crowley regarding the interview conducted with S1. S1 was terminated on 2/24/23 from employment at the facility. On 2/5/23 S2 gave the facility a resignation letter via email. On 3/7/23 LPA received an incident report with an update regarding a second staff (S2). The incident report stated that during an interview conducted by Detective Crowley on 3/1/23, S2 admitted to have stolen at least $1000 dollars in purchases and $1800 using “Venmo” to self. On 8/10/23 Detective Crowley informed LPA that the investigation conducted by the Lakewood Sheriff’s Detective Bureau was completed, and it was now under the DA’s office, on felony charges against S1. (CONTINUED ON LIC 9099C) On 9/20/23 Detective Crowley confirmed that S2 had admitted to stealing from R1. LPA interviewed S2 over the phone, who stated to have made purchases for self with R1’s card with R1’s permission. Due to the cognitive state of R1 we were not able to determine whether R1 consent to the purchases. However, S2 did not follow Facility’s "Policy and Procedure K-400 entitled Gratuities and K-410 Guidelines" for accepting and rejecting gratuities. Based on LPAs document review and interviews which were conducted, the preponderance of evidence standard has been met, therefore the above allegation is found to be SUBSTANTIATED . California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Division 6 and Chapter 8 are being cited on the attached LIC 9099D. Exit interview was conducted with Anne Walsh and a copy of this report, LIC 9099D, and appeal rights were provided.