Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Caregiver accused of elderly exploitation

Denise Marie Martin is charged with exploiting the elderly after she confesses to using the woman's credit card for a $1,900 shopping spree.

By MARLON A. WALKER
Published August 31, 2006

PALM HARBOR - She came with excellent references and a clean background check.

So Denise Marie Martin's boss was shocked when the 44-year-old Dunedin resident was charged with using the credit card of a woman she cared for to go on a $1,900 shopping spree.

Martin, of 1136 Glenwood Drive, was assigned to the 86-year-old woman's home through Visiting Angels, a company that provides companionship and housekeeping services for the elderly.

Martin was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of exploiting the elderly after she confessed to making the credit card charges, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office's spokesman Mac McMullen said.

Beverly Napoli, owner of the Visiting Angels' Palm Harbor office, said she received a call Monday from a caregiver working with the woman while Martin took several days off to attend a relative's funeral.

The second caregiver called about a bill that had come to the woman's house and included charges made at Wal-Mart, through mail order and at a store at a local mall.

"She called me because she seemed to be suspicious of the charges," Napoli said. "The woman's son had sent the bill to his mother's home because the charges seemed unusual."

Martin had been working with the woman for a little more than a year, Napoli said. The Sheriff's Office is not identifying the victim.

Napoli said a closet in the room that Martin had been using in the home contained DVDs and clothing from Wal-Mart. Some of the clothes still had tags on them.

It was enough for Napoli to get the authorities involved, she said.

Napoli said she and another worker, along with sheriff's deputies, went to the home Tuesday. The other worker chatted with the victim in a back room while deputies questioned Martin.

"At first, she tried to deny it. She said she paid it back with cash," Napoli said. "But the (deputy) had her admit to the whole thing. They were really good."

As Martin was led from the house, she began to cry and apologized, Napoli said.

"In six years of business, this is the first time I've had a problem like this," Napoli said.

Martin was being held Wednesday in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Napoli said she will be more cautious when it comes to hiring her next employee.

"You can never be too careful," she said. "The elderly are too vulnerable."

Marlon A. Walker can be reached at (727) 893-8737 or mwalker@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 30, 2006, 23:52:15]