Caretaker Steals More Than $300K From Upper East Side Couple, Prosecutors Say

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A home health aide, and one-time "Jeopardy!" champion, stole more than $300,000 from an elderly Upper East Side couple to pay for tickets to Broadway shows and Florida vacations, prosecutors told Patch.

Winston Nguyen, 30, is facing nine criminal charges such as grand larceny, identity theft and forgery for stealing approximately $335,000 from an Upper East Side man and wife under his care, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced.

Nguyen started caring for the blind 96-year-old man and his 92-year-old wife in 2009, but didn't start stealing from them until 2015, prosecutors said. During a two year period, Nguyen used the couple’s bank account and credit cards to make more than $100,000 in purchases and cash withdrawals, opened lines of credit worth more than $35,000 using the couple’s personal information and wrote himself more than $200,000 in checks from the couple’s checking account, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

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What did Nguyen do with the stolen money? Buy tickets for the ballet, Broadway shows and Florida vacations, prosecutors said.

"This defendant is accused of stealing more than $300,000 from his employers and using the stolen funds to purchase ballet tickets and trips to Florida," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. "A recent study estimated that victims of elder abuse lose more than $36 billion every year, although, sadly, the true cost is likely higher as elder abuse is often unreported."

To cover his tracks, Nguyen diverted the couples bank statements to his own home and created forged statements excluding his theft. Nguyen also placed a bar on the couple's telephone number and impersonated their son in communication with the couple's condo board, prosecutors said.

In May, the elderly couple's daughter-in-law discovered the fraud and notified the police, prosecutors said.

Nguyen last appeared in court on Aug. 24 and is not being held in custody, according to court records.

Here's a full list of charges Nguyen is facing:

• One count of second-degree grand larceny;
• One count of second-degree criminal possession of stolen property;
• One count of first-degree identity theft;
• One count of first-degree scheme to defraud;
• Two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent person;
• Eight counts of third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification;
• One count of second-degree criminal impersonation;
• Eight counts of third-degree forgery;
• Eight counts of third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.

If you or somebody you know is the victim of elder abuse call the Manhattan District Attorney's elder abuse hotline at 212-335-9007.

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