In-home aide for Belleville non-profit accused of stealing identities from elderly
Two women have been indicted on charges they defrauded elderly clients while one of them worked for a Belleville-based in-home aide service.
A federal grand jury charged Erica S. Rose, 30, of East St. Louis, and Ashley N. McKinney, 36, of Pheba, Mississippi, on nine counts in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The alleged incidents occurred between February 2018 to November 2018 in St. Clair and Madison counties.
Rose was employed by CareLink, 122 Lincoln Place Ct. in Belleville, as an in-home aide. The company lists aide duties as assisting elderly clients with bathing, personal care, meal preparation, medication reminders and other daily living tasks. The federal indictment alleges that Rose used her position to steal clients’ bank account numbers and identifying information and shared them with McKinney.
The pair then used the stolen information to withdraw money from ATMs, deposit fraudulent checks and even purchase a car online for more than $28,000, the indictments state.
It says on at least one occasion, Rose impersonated a person whose identity had been stolen over the phone to bank representatives.
According to the indictment, Rose and McKinney were each charged with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, aiding and abetting bank fraud, aiding and abetting wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Rose was additionally charged with wire fraud and McKinney faces an additional charge of money laundering.
Rose and McKinney are due in federal court for an initial appearance at on Feb. 11., a news release from U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft’s office stated Tuesday. A trial date has not been set for the case.
If convicted, Rose and McKinney each face up to 30 years in prison on the conspiracy charges alone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The aggravated identity theft charges each carry a mandatory sentence of two years imprisonment.
According to its website, CareLink is part of Christian Horizons, a non-profit agency that has provided “faith-based health care services” for 52 years.
Director of Marketing Jen Morgan said through a prepared statement that Rose worked for CareLink from December 2017 to November of 2018.
“All CareLink employees are screened prior to employment and any incidents brought to our attention are investigated,” the statement from Morgan said. “All CareLink caregivers are educated and required to complete ongoing, abuse prevention training.
“CareLink has and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement regarding these allegations.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
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