A woman from Chula Vista pled guilty in federal court for stealing over $350,000 as a manager of a local health care provider, and was charged with one count of wire fraud.
From April 2016 until April 2018, Ana Phimmasone, 37, admitted to have stolen $352,594.47 from a local company that provides in-home care services for mostly elderly individuals, as well as from several of its clients.
“This defendant exploited the trust that patients place in their care providers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “This successful prosecution demonstrates that our office continues to prosecute anyone who targets vulnerable members of the community.” Grossman commended the prosecution team and the United States Postal Inspection Service for their efforts to bring this offender to justice.
According to the U.S. Attorney, the initial theft totalling up to nearly $26,000 and checks were deposited into Phimmasone’s bank account. Over the course of two years she used credit card information from client’s and billed them using wire payment services such as PayPal, Venmo, Square and Apple Pay to move money in her personal account.
The creation of a fraudulent PayPal account was used with the name and personal information of an 87-year-old individual according to the U.S Attorney. This fraudulent PayPal account was used to conceal illegitimate charges to other client's credit cards.
Phimmasone also created false invoices for victims J.B. and E.B. to hide funds being diverted to her own accounts. As part of her guilty plea, Phimmasone agreed to pay $352,586.22 in restitution to her former employer and a number of individual victims.
“The United States Postal Inspection Service remains unwavering in its strong stance to protect the elderly and other vulnerable populations against criminal acts. Postal Inspectors will aggressively investigate and prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law,” said Carroll N. Harris, Inspector in Charge of the Los Angeles Division.
Phimmasone is scheduled to appear in San Diego federal court on March 7, 2022 for sentencing.
