CAREGIVER CHARGED WITH STEALING OVER $250,000 FROM 92-YEAR-OLD WOMAN BY STEALING DEBIT CARD AND FORGING CHECKS

CAREGIVER CHARGED WITH STEALING OVER $250,000 FROM 92-YEAR-OLD WOMAN BY STEALING

DEBIT CARD AND FORGING CHECKS

NEWPORT BEACH– A caregiver has been charged with stealing more than $250,000 from a 92-year-old woman by stealing the victim’s debit card and forging checks from the victim’s account. Susana Duran, 38, Tijuana, Mexico, is charged with one felony count of financial elder abuse by a caregiver, 149 felony counts of using a debit card without authorization, 10 felony counts of forgery, and white collar crime sentencing enhancements for fraud and loss over $100,000 and loss over $65,000. If convicted, Duran faces a sentence ranging from two years in state prison up to a maximum of 111 years in state prison. The People will be requesting $250,000 bail and the defendant must prove the money is from a legal and legitimate source before posting bail. Duran is scheduled to be arraigned today, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. in Department H-2, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.

Beginning in January 2008, Duran is accused of working as an in-home caregiver for 92-year-old Jane Doe. The defendant is accused of commuting daily from her home in Mexico to the victim’s Laguna Woods home, working shifts up to 24 hours at a time. Duran is accused of stealing the victim’s bank debit card and personal identification number without Jane Doe’s knowledge. She is accused of making multiple daily cash withdrawals of $500 at a time and using the victim’s debit card to make purchases including gasoline and a computer.

Duran is accused writing 10 checks to herself totaling over $39,000 from the victim’s check book and forging Jane Doe’s signature without her consent. The defendant is accused of stealing a total of more than $250,000 from Jane Doe.

Jane Doe discovered the theft after Duran called in sick one day and another caregiver showed the victim a bank statement, which arrived that day in the mail. Duran was arrested Oct. 6, 2009, by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) when she arrived for work at Jane Doe’s home.

Correction to Orange County Register article

The Orange County Register printed the story, Caretaker accused of stealing from woman, 92, yesterday, Oct. 6, 2009. The same story was posted on their website Oct. 5, 2009. The article, written by reporter Kimberly Edds, contained incorrect information, stating “Duran was put on three years of probation and ordered to pay restitution after she pleaded guilty in 2004 to misrepresenting herself in order to receive public aid.” This erroneous information printed in the Orange County Register is factually incorrect.

Duran is not the same Susana Duran mentioned in Edds’ article as being convicted of public assistance fraud, having a different date and year of birth, social security number, and physical descriptions.