A Myrtle Beach woman employed at the Grandhaven Home, a hospice care facility in Garden City, faces charges that she stole thousands of dollars from a patient in her care.
Horry County Police charged 29-year-old Joann Denise Gerald with exploitation of a vulnerable adult Saturday after investigators said she stole more than $10,000 from a patient.
The theft happened between July 1, 2008 and August 29, 2008, according to the arrest warrant.
Investigators said Gerald worked as a certified nursing assistant at the facility during that time and cared for the 97-year-old woman there.
Gerald took the money she stole from the victim and used it to pay her cell phone bill, car payments, and car insurance, according to the victim’s granddaughter, who spoke at Gerald’s bon hearing Saturday night.
So far, the victim’s family told the judge that they’ve found around $11,000 missing from several bank drafts the family placed into the victim’s account.
The thefts started happening in March, according to the family’s testimony in the bond hearing Saturday.
Gerald told the judge she was no longer employed by the Garden City business.
A county magistrate set Gerald’s bond at $30,000 and called her “a risk to society.”
Gerald’s family posted her bond following the hearing, according to court records.
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