F0602

D

Misappropriation of Resident Funds by Admissions Staff Using Bank Information

Burlington, North Carolina Survey Completed on 01-08-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to protect a resident from misappropriation of property when a staff member used the resident’s personal bank information to make a payment to his own credit card account. The affected resident was admitted in February 2025 and had an admission MDS showing moderate cognitive impairment, with the responsible party managing all finances and the resident having no access to her bank account. On 3/10/25, the resident’s responsible party observed a charge of approximately $372.94 on the resident’s bank statement that included the name of the facility’s admission Director. The responsible party later notified the facility, and on 3/13/25 at 11:30 AM the facility became aware of the allegation that a payment had been made from the resident’s account to a staff member.

Interviews and record review showed that, during the admission process, the resident’s family had provided a bank statement for verification of funds. Although facility staff reported that it was not facility policy to collect or retain bank statements, the Health Information Management (HIM) staff stated that, in this case, the admission Director kept the bank statement instead of returning it to the family. The previous Business Office Manager (BOM) reported that she had been on vacation during the resident’s admission and, upon her return, she was not given any of the financial documents and did not see the bank statements in the resident’s financial folder. The Administrator later explained that the HIM staff, who was assisting with admissions and Business Office duties, had placed the financial information in a file that the admission Director subsequently accessed.

Law enforcement and facility interviews confirmed that the admission Director used the resident’s bank account details obtained through his role in the admission process to make a payment of $372.96 to his personal credit card account. The Detective stated that the employee, by virtue of his position, used the resident’s bank information to pay his credit card bill and later produced a fraudulent letter from a bank attempting to show that no such transaction had occurred. The previous DON and Administrator both reported that the admission Director provided this letter during the facility’s investigation, and law enforcement later verified that the document was fake. Based on updated information from law enforcement, the facility’s initial unsubstantiated allegation was changed to substantiated misappropriation of resident property, and the staff member was charged with fraud and elderly abuse related to the unauthorized transfer of funds from the resident’s account.