Florida nurse stole Alzheimer patient’s identity to pay for plastic surgery: police

A Florida nurse is accused of stealing the identity of an 88-year-old patient with Alzheimer’s disease in order to pay for over $7,000 worth of plastic surgery, police said Friday.

Tiffany Acuna, a 31-year-old certified in-home nursing assistant, was charged with fraud and grand theft after she allegedly opened a credit card in the patient’s name to cover the cost of the procedure.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation on April 4 when the victim, from Deltona, received a credit card bill in the mail for $7,160.11, the agency said.

The bill was for a credit card that nobody had signed up for, the woman’s husband told deputies

Investigators determined that the transaction was made on Nov. 1, 2022 for multiple cosmetic procedures at Moon Plastic Surgery.

The customer was Acuna, who is also known as Tiffany Kent, police said.

Acuna worked for American In-Home Care as a nurse until she was suspended on April 4, according to the sheriff’s office.

When authorities contacted Acuna, she denied applying for a credit card in the victim’s name and said she never got plastic surgery.

She later contacted the patient’s husband “requesting a meeting to set up a repayment plan.”

When she arrived at the victim’s home, she had $1,500 in cash on her and a loan agreement contract, police said, but deputies were there waiting to take her into custody.

She told detectives the victim had given her permission to use her identity to pay for the surgery.

Acuna was charged with grand theft and fraudulent use of ID without consent of a victim 60 or older.

She was booked Thursday at the Volusia County Branch Jail and released after posting $10,000 bail.