Personal care assistant accused of defrauding 95-year-old woman of $150K to appear in Boston court

A personal care assistant accused of defrauding a 95-year-old woman she was caring for of about $150,000 is expected in a Boston courtroom on Thursday to face a judge, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

Dominique Emmanuel, 41, of Brockton, is scheduled to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court in Dorchester. She is charged with medical assistance fraud by provider and larceny over $1,200 by single scheme.

Prosecutors allege that Emmanuel stole from the elderly victim’s bank account, collected rent money intended for the victim, and took out a reverse mortgage on her home, resulting in foreclosure.

“The stunning breadth of this scheme illustrates the trust and authority given to this woman and how she abused that trust and authority to fill her own pockets. It’s something we’ve seen far too often, and it’s a clear signal to older adults and their families to be ever vigilant when money and services are involved,” Hayden said in a statement.

In February 2023, Boston Police received a report from a woman stating her 95-year-old mother’s personal care assistant, later identified as Emmanuel, had been stealing from her, Hayden said.

The victim told police Emmanuel had been her personal care assistant for several years after meeting her at the Santander Bank in Mattapan where Emmanuel worked as a bank teller.

A review of the victim’s will led to the discovery that Emmanuel was listed as an alternate executor of the will. The victim’s daughter then discovered her mother’s Mattapan home was in foreclosure due to a reverse mortgage of which the victim and family members had no knowledge, Hayden said. They also learned that approximately $120,000 was withdrawn from the victim’s Santander Bank account, which included $70,000 made payable to a construction company for work that was never done.

Additionally, Emmanuel was tasked with collecting rent in the amount of $1,800 from the first-floor tenant of the home, Hayden said. The tenant told investigators he had entered a rental agreement from March 2021 and he had paid the person known to him as Dominique $3,600 cash for the first and last month’s rent and $1,800 cash every month thereafter until December 2022, totaling over $30,000 in payments.

The victim never received these payments, Hayden said. Investigators were able to corroborate numerous cash deposits into Emmanuel’s Santander account during that timeframe.

A review of Emmanuel’s employment records from Tempus Unlimited, a personal care attendant program, showed that she had been paid for hours of work she did not perform, including days she was out of state, prosecutors said. Records showed that she billed Tempus for hours while the victim was either being treated at a long-term care or an inpatient care facility and would not require the assistance of a personal care assistant at home. The total Medicaid fraud loss is approximately $3,763.60.

To address an increase in financial exploitation and abuse, Hayden said he recently launched the Suffolk County Fraud Fighters, a “multi-agency effort to help local residents, particularly older adults, recognize common scams and signs of financial fraud.”

Older adults typically suffer greater financial losses when they know the perpetrator, compared to anonymous scammers, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Hayden credited the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the investigation that led to the charges.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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