DALLAS — Residents at a senior living facility in northeast Dallas said a now-former employee stole tens of thousands of dollars by telling them to direct their monthly rent checks to a company registered to her own home address.
A volunteer at the facility whose mother is a resident said more than 30 seniors had been swindled, for a total scam of at least $67,000.
The Autumn Leaves facility, which includes wings for both assisted and independent living care, said the woman was no longer an employee. Dallas Police said detectives in the financial crimes unit have opened an investigation. No one has been charged.
"I felt violated," said Jacqueline Bartlett, who said the employee stole nearly $15,000 she intended to pay as rent. "I had heard of this happening other places, but you just think it won’t happen to you."
She said the employee told her to make her check out to a different company for seven months before the fraud was discovered.
"What's going on here?" Bartlett asked. "Why can't you all stay on top of your bookkeeping?"
Molly Terry, who put the pieces of the alleged scam together alongside fellow volunteer April McElhone, said the employee signed her name on the back of the checks and mobile deposited them on her phone.
"She definitely took advantage of whoever she could," Terry said. "There are people – a few – who were even writing more than one check a month because they didn’t remember."
Autumn Leaves Associate Executive Director Joshua Hoes said in a statement "we were shocked and outraged by the allegation that a former employee may be involved in misappropriated resident and company funds."
He told WFAA he was "in tears" when he found out about what happened.
"It hurts because this is my family," Hoes said.
He said the company took immediate action after it learned the payments had been diverted.
"We are not letting this incident impact our mission," Hoes said in the statement. "We remain committed to serving seniors and fostering a culture of compassion, collaboration, and trust; and we are very grateful to those employees who work hard every day to serve our seniors and their families."
He said the residents would not have to pay back the money that was stolen, the company was cooperating with police and planned to press charges.
"We want to make sure the individual cannot do it again," he said.
The full statement from Autumn Leaves is below:
At Autumn Leaves, we take great pride in treating our residents, staff, families, and guests at our community with a high degree of respect and dignity, which is why we were shocked and outraged by the allegation that a former employee may be involved in misappropriated resident and company funds.
Upon learning that resident payments to the community had been diverted, we took immediate action by contacting the authorities and began a thorough, forensic review of the matter with help from outside experts. We are thankful for the quick actions of the Dallas Police Department for their work to investigate this matter. We have worked closely with our residents and their families to ensure that no resident accounts have been negatively impacted by the actions of our former employee. We continue to cooperate with the Dallas Police Department in their ongoing investigation in an effort to bring justice to our residents and community.
We are not letting this incident impact our mission. The financial health of our organization remains strong, and we continue to invest in operations, amenities, and programs to enhance the quality of life and provide high-quality care to our residents. Likewise, we remain committed to serving seniors and fostering a culture of compassion, collaboration, and trust; and we are very grateful to those employees who work hard every day to serve our seniors and their families.