Investigation uncovers financial exploitation of vulnerable adults by Hawley home care provider

By Gretchen Hjelmstad

HAWLEY, Minn. (Valley News Live) - The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating a home care provider in Hawley, Minnesota, for alleged maltreatment and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults.

According to the investigative reports, the Health Department substantiated two complaints against Comforting Angels Homecare, which is located at 202 Highway 10 in Hawley.

In both cases, the owner of Comforting Angels is accused of withdrawing money from client’s bank accounts for personal use. The first investigation involved more than $135,000 missing over 16 months and the second included more than $246,000 over nine months.

Each investigation included review of bank statements, billing statements, and interviews with administrative staff, nursing staff, and unlicensed staff at Comforting Angels. The investigator also contacted law enforcement. Detailed information from the Health Department Rapid Response Investigative Report can be found below.

Maltreatment Claim 1

Officials determined that someone affiliated with Comforting Angels withdrew $135,543.26 from a client’s bank accounts over a 16-month period. Investigators say, the suspect made as many as five withdrawals per month and did not provide the client with billing statements or a reason for the withdrawals.

The Health Department investigator says the client received comprehensive home care services from Comforting Angels in their home. However, the home care agency did not have documentation of the client’s diagnoses, the client didn’t have a service plan, and no assessments were completed on the client.

In total, the client’s bank statements identified approximately 35 withdrawals over that 16-month period. The transactions ranged from $259.14 to $13,000, according to the investigative report. The client’s bank statements also included a $1,800 deposit made at a bank in Arizona and $1,800 that was withdrawn on the same day.

The client was charged anywhere from $27,000 to $30,000 per month for 24-hour care, but the investigation found that bank statements included various other expenses including $998.11 in unidentified expenses one month, $540 for incontinent products another month, $75 for one month’s worth of wipes and gloves, $188.06 for groceries, and $341.07 for a motel.

The Department of Health investigation found that the statements the owner of Comforting Angels sent the investigator did not match the statements they provided to the client’s power of attorney. The amounts listed on either set of statements also did not line up with the withdrawals, and the dates of the withdrawals did not line up with the billing cycle dates.

During an interview, the client’s family member said she recently became the client’s power of attorney as she was made aware of concerns regarding the finances. The family member said she obtained copies of the client’s bank statements and noticed $100,000 had been taken from one account and almost $50,000 was missing from a savings account.

The family member said after several requests, Comforting Angels finally sent her a stack of invoices covering the 16 months the client received services. The invoices totaled about $341,000, which they said, “seemed shocking, considering the poor care she was getting.”

According to the Department of Health investigation, several interviews were conducted with multiple current and former administrative assistants, who indicated they were not permitted access to client billing as part of their office job duties. The administrative assistants said the only person allowed to do billing was the owner. They also said they frequently received calls from various clients and family members with concerns and questions on bills and charges, but they were directed to not address the concerns and have them speak with the owner about it.

When interviewed by investigators, the owner said she was currently working with an attorney because the client had not paid her in over a year. When asked about the large billing amounts and withdrawals that didn’t line up with the billing cycle, the owner said it could have been due to issues with billing software.

According to the investigative report, the owner confirmed the deposit made in Arizona was completed by her. She said after depositing the client’s checks, she would withdraw that amount because the client “was behind on her bills and I needed to get paid something.”

The owner also said she had a verbal agreement with the client to deposit checks on her behalf and that she would bring the statements over to the client and personally review them with her each month, but did not retain documentation to show this interaction occurred.

Maltreatment Claim 2

A similar complaint was filed against Comforting Angels Homecare by a second client. In this case, the Minnesota Department of Health found the owner withdrew $246,726.70 from the client’s bank accounts over nine months. Withdrawals were made as many as five times per month and billing statements indicating the reasons for the withdrawals were not provided.

In addition, the client’s debit card was used to make unauthorized purchases. Documents say multiple employees and the client’s responsible party reported concerns of misuse of the client’s debit card to the owner, however, the facility owner failed to investigate the allegations.

The Health Department says the client received 24-hour comprehensive home care services from Comforting Angels in their home, however, the home care agency did not have documentation of the client’s diagnoses and the client did not have a signed service plan.

The client’s bank statements identified approximately 28 withdrawals over a nine-month period. The individual transactions ranged from $286.27 to $13,964.27 with anywhere from two to five transactions made each month on various dates. In total $246,726.70 was withdrawn by Comforting Angels. According to the investigator, the client’s bank statements included several transactions the client did not make, including charges to an online language coach and a computer game company.

The owner was asked to send statements to both investigators and the client’s responsible party, but the Health Department says the statements didn’t match and included discrepancies in the totals for monthly services. Investigators say the amounts listed on the statements did not line up with amounts withdrawn from the client’s bank accounts, and the dates did not line up with the billing cycle.

The client’s responsible party says they started noticing large withdrawals and suspicious charges on the client’s debit card. Eventually, they deactivated the debit card and the report says Comforting Angels then started putting expenses on invoices. Investigators note that the invoices lacked detail and sometimes receipts.

During investigative interviews, multiple staff members stated there were many times there was not a caregiver in the home, even though the client was supposed to be receiving 24-hour care. Staff reported that sometimes caregivers just didn’t show up; they would come to the client’s home and sleep for the duration of their shift; or come to the client’s home to clock in, leave, and come back later to clock out.

The owner was also notified about caregivers taking the client’s personal items and staff using the debit card to buy things for themselves. One staff member reported to the owner that other staff members were using the client’s debit card for purchases for themselves at places like restaurants, gas stations, fast food places, and Apple.

When interviewed by investigators, the owner said she didn’t know why the client’s bank account was showing withdrawals that fell outside of the billing cycles and for amounts more than what the statements reflected. She said she had some issues with her billing software, but never received any disputes from the client or the family about the amounts taken out, so she was not aware money above and beyond the cost of services was being withdrawn.

The owner also told investigators there were no gaps in the client’s care and a caregiver was present 24/7, except for when family came to visit and sent some caregivers home.

Valley News Live has reached out to Comforting Angels Homecare for comment; as of this publication, we have not received a response.

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Investigation uncovers financial exploitation of vulnerable adults by Hawley home care provider