How five thieves raided nursing home 'trust funds'

Peter Eisler and Morgan Fecto | USA TODAY

In at least 10 cases, nursing home employees — usually business office staff — have stolen more than $100,000 from special trust funds that the facilities maintain to safeguard residents' money, USA TODAY found as part of a broader investigation of the trust funds' management. Here's a look at how five thieves did it — and how some almost got away with it:

• Virginia A. Soules, 47, was accused of taking $140,000 from trust funds at a Waterbury, Conn., nursing home.

Details:Soules wrote 36 checks from resident trust accounts in amounts from $500 to more than $6,500 while working as an accounts receivable clerk at Meridian Manor, prosecutors said. She admitted spending the money on personal expenses, including her dog's $7,000 veterinarian bill.

Caught: The nursing home's office manager grew suspicious of Soules after finding checks written to cash from the resident trust account. After determining that Soules had cashed the checks, he reported the theft to authorities.

Outcome: Soules pleaded guilty to one count of larceny in the first degree. She was sentenced in August to serve a seven-year prison sentence and repay the $140,170, according to the chief state's attorney's office.

• Sidney Horton, 46, was accused of taking nearly $162,000 from the residents' trust fund at an Augusta, Ga., nursing home.

Details: Working as the administrator at The Place at Martinez, Horton repeatedly wrote checks to himself from the trust fund to pay off gambling debts, prosecutors said. He hid the thefts by manipulating ledger books.

Caught: Auditors found discrepancies in the books and contacted the owner, who confronted Horton and he admitted the theft, prosecutors said.

Outcome: Horton pleaded guilty in 2010 to felony theft. Initially ordered to three years in prison and seven years probation, his sentence was reduced to 10 years of probation after he made restitution of the money he stole. He was required to 1,000 hours of community service, continue treatment for a gambling addiction and have no contact with the nursing home or its residents.

• Lee Ray Martin, 38, was accused of taking more than $101,000 from the trust funds of 83 residents at two Vicksburg, Miss., nursing homes.

Details: Martin, a business office coordinator, repeatedly took money from residents' trust funds to pay personal expenses, including high-end clothing for herself and her family and sporting goods for her children, court records show.

Caught: Martin's thefts were discovered after an administrator found a receipt billing a pair of women's designer jeans to a male resident who had lost both legs, according to court records.

Outcome: Martin pleaded guilty in August to 29 counts of exploitation of a vulnerable person and one count of conspiracy. She was sentenced to serve 15 years working at a restitution center to pay back the $101,000, plus court costs.

• Judy C. Putman, 61, was accused of taking more than $350,000 from resident trust funds at a Waxahachie, Texas, nursing home.

Details: An office manager at the Renfro Healthcare Center, Putman forged 145 checks drawn on resident trust funds for 110 residents, taking more than $350,000, prosecutors said. She tried unsuccessfully to get a co-worker to cover for her during the investigation, court records show.

Caught: A local bank grew suspicious after Putman tried to cash a check on the trust fund account with a co-worker's signature that did not match bank records.

Outcome: Putman pleaded guilty in 2007 to misapplication of fiduciary property. She received a 10-year prison sentence, which was suspended, and was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised community release. She also had to pay $38,000 in restitution and about $3,000 in court costs.

• Nancy McCullough, 64, was accused of manipulating the accounts of an Urbana, Ohio, nursing home to divert more than $100,000 in residents' funds, including dozens of Social Security checks, for personal use.

Details: While working as the business office manager at Heartland of Urbana, McCullough used a complex scheme to pull more than $7,000 in residents' funds from the facility's trust account, the state attorney general charged. She also was accused of intercepting nearly $95,000 in Social Security checks and cashing them for personal use..

Caught: The nursing home's corporate ownership picked up on the $7,000 in diverted funds during an internal audit. The missing money was reported to the state attorney general's office, and a follow-up investigation uncovered the stolen checks.

Outcome: McCullough pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated theft. She was sentenced in March 2011 to two years in prison and ordered to pay $102,113 in restitution to the nursing home, which had reimbursed residents for the stolen funds.