Failure to Protect Resident from Misappropriation of Funds
Penalty
Summary
A resident with diagnoses including heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and depression, and with intact cognition, experienced unauthorized charges totaling $3,941.66 on their bank account. The charges were discovered by the Business Office Manager (BOM) after the resident was unable to access funds at a store. The BOM reviewed the resident's bank statements and identified multiple unapproved transactions related to DoorDash and Lyft, which the resident did not make. The BOM reported the incident to the police, cancelled the resident's debit card, and contacted the bank, which was able to reverse only three months of the fraudulent charges, although the activity had been ongoing for approximately six months. The facility's investigation into the misappropriation was incomplete, as there were no interviews conducted with staff or other residents who may have been involved or had knowledge of the incident. The Administrator confirmed that neither staff nor residents were interviewed regarding the missing funds and stated that the case was referred to the Attorney General's office. The facility ultimately unsubstantiated the self-reported incident, citing a lack of evidence identifying who took the resident's money, despite the facility's policy requiring interviews with the resident, the accused, and all witnesses during such investigations.