Administrator faces criminal charges and license suspension
By: Clark Kauffman
An Iowa nursing home administrator criminally charged with stealing
thousands of dollars from an elderly resident has agreed to refrain from
practicing while an investigation is pending.
Chelsi Ingles, 34, of Tipton, is facing charges of first-degree
felony theft against an older individual, dependent adult abuse by
exploitation, ongoing criminal conduct and tampering with records. She
has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges.
Prosecutors allege that in December 2023, Ingles, while working as
the administrator at the Aspire of Muscatine nursing home, stole two
checks belonging to a female resident of the home. State records
indicate that at the time, the resident had been diagnosed with
schizophrenia, dementia and epilepsy.
Ingles is alleged to have cashed one of the resident’s checks and
collected $8,500, after which she deposited $3,500 into the resident’s
trust account at Aspire of Muscatine.
A week later, she allegedly used the second check to deposit $8,500
into a bank account she had set up for herself and the resident. Later
that day, Ingles allegedly transferred $8,500 from that account to a
separate account she shared with her husband.
Prosecutors allege that in January 2024, during an internal
investigation at the home, Aspire asked Ingles to return the resident’s
money and any receipts she had for purchases that were made with
trust-account money. Ingles allegedly returned only $3,202 in cash.
Prosecutors say she also provided her employer with questionable
documentation that falsely suggested the rest of the money was used to
purchase food, furniture and a television for the resident.
State inspection records indicate executives with the Aspire chain of
nursing homes admitted that they didn’t notify the Iowa Department of
Inspections, Appeals and Licensing of the suspected theft, as required
by law, and also didn’t inform law enforcement officials.
Ingles worked for Cedar County and for Clinton facility
State records show that in 2022, before Ingles began working at
Aspire of Muscatine, Cedar County fired Ingles from her position there
as a public health manager, allegedly for timecard theft. The county had
compared Ingles’ timecards with electronic data showing when she
arrived for work each day and had concluded she was claiming pay for
hours never worked. Ingles said she worked odd hours at times and
occasionally performed work, such as viewing work-related videos,
outside normal office hours.
Ingles was initially denied unemployment benefits, with the judge in
her case finding that even if she had been given permission “to arrive
early or watch videos and bill at odd hours, that does not excuse her
ongoing, poor recordkeeping that only worked to her advantage.” The
Employment Appeal Board subsequently reversed the judge’s decision,
noting that Ingles “had never been reprimanded, or issued any warnings
about the way she spent her time or how she recorded her hours.”
State records also show that after Ingles left her position at Aspire
of Muscatine, she served briefly as the administrator at Addington
Place, an assisted living center in Clinton.
Ingles’ attorney recently obtained a continuance in the criminal case
due to ongoing plea-agreement negotiations with county prosecutors, who
are seeking a total of $8,523 in victim restitution in the matter. A
pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for March 13, 2026.
Recently, the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators entered into a
settlement agreement with Ingles. The board agreed that it would not
pursue formal disciplinary charges against Ingles until the Iowa
Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing completes its
investigation of the 2023 incident and Ingles has been given a chance to
respond to the findings.
In the meantime, Ingles has agreed to refrain from practicing as a
nursing home administrator until further order by the board. As a
result, the status of her state license, which expired in December 2025,
is listed as “suspended.”
During Aspire of Muscatine’s most recent annual inspection, in May
2025, the home was cited for 17 regulatory violations — an exceptionally
high number. The violations included inadequate quality of care;
failure to maintain residents’ nutrition and hydration status;
inadequate respiratory care; failure to maintain sufficient, competent
staff, and inadequate food services and infection control.
On the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ five-star quality
scale, Aspire of Muscatine currently has a one-star rating for both
overall quality and health inspections.
Full Article & Source:
Nursing home administrator accused of stealing from dementia patient
