A home health aide from Levittown has been arrested of illegally making purchases with a debit card of the person she cared for.
On October 24, the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NYSP BCI) was contacted by the family of a 90-year-old victim from Babylon. The family noticed several suspicious transactions on the victim’s bank statements totaling in $1,850.46 worth of unauthorized Amazon purchases. Investigation by the NYSP BCI in Riverside revealed that the victim’s home health aide, Jeneva F. Polwah, 39, used the victims debit card to make several Amazon purchases between June and October.
“Ms. Polwah misused her position of trust to steal money from a vulnerable 90-year-old individual,” NYSP Troop L in Farmingdale said in a statement. “This is a serious crime that can have devastating consequences not only for the victim, but their family as well both financially and emotionally.”
Polwah was arrested November 11 and charged with second-degree identity theft (a Class E Felony), fourth-degree grand larceny (a Class E Felony), third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information (a Class A misdemeanor). She is due back to Suffolk County First District Court in Central Islip on November 29.
The New York State Police BCI is asking anyone who believes that they may have been a victim to please contact them at 631-756-3300.