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Hastings woman charged with forging checks of elderly rehab home patient

Posted at 4:26 PM, Jan 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-20 16:26:26-05

HASTINGS, Mich. – A Hastings woman has been charged with Larceny, Forgery and Embezzlement from a vulnerable adult.

Hastings Police began investigating the case in November 2015 after Grand Rapids Police contacted them about an 80-year-old woman, living in a Grand Rapids rehab facility, was having unauthorized withdrawals from her bank account. The woman had previously lived at the River Ridge Adult Foster Care Home in the 300 block of N. Taffee Street in Hastings.

Police interviewed Ruth Brown, who they say holds the license at River Ridge.  Brown admitted to police that she wrote several of the victim’s checks while she was at the home, for her bills.  She admitted to forging the victim’s name on the checks.  She told police that the victim was in the early stages of dementia and thought the victim wouldn’t notice the money was missing.  She told police that she thought she had taken about $5,000, but the victim reports being out nearly $9,000.

Brown turned herself in earlier in January after the Barry County Prosecutor authorized the charges and arrest warrant.