A Cobb County nurse is accused of making nearly $10,000 in fraudulent purchases on three hospital patients’ credit cards, sheriff’s spokesman Robert Quigley said.
April Echols, 38, of Loganville, was arrested Thursday after police say she stole more than $4,700 from an ALS patient and more than $4,500 from a second patient.
Echols was employed by a nursing services agency and was temporarily working at Anderson Mill Health and Rehabilitation Center in Austell at the time of the crimes in December, Quigley said. She was under contract with the WellStar Health System, he said.
According to the Georgia Board of Nursing records, Echols was a licensed practical nurse whose license expires in March. It is not yet clear if her license has been suspended.
In the first incident, police say a 68-year-old ALS patient’s family discovered suspicious activity on his account, including two $2,000 money-order purchases from Publix and several ATM withdrawals.
As police were investigating the first incident, they discovered a 69-year-old female victim’s two credit cards were stolen and transactions were made at Wal-Mart, QuikTrip and Walgreens.
When more than $31,000 of attempted transactions were declined on one of the cards, police say Echols pretended to be the victim and called the credit card company to approve the charges.
But the third time turned out not to be a charm.
The third victim told authorities that Echols came into her hospital room and knocked over a table that had several items on it, including her credit cards.
But when Echols returned the items, the victim said she noticed one of her credit cards was missing and called the company to cancel it.
Police did not disclose the exact amount Echols allegedly took from the third victim.
Echols was charged with two counts of exploitation of a disabled or elderly person and seven counts of credit card fraud-financial transaction. She remained in the Cobb County jail on $50,000 bond.
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