Health aide gets 5 years in ripoff

A HOME HEALTH care aide who bilked an elderly Queens couple out of nearly $180,000 was sentenced to up to five years in prison Wednesday, and ordered to pay back the money.

For five years, Chaniesa Simmons, 42, of Central Islip, L.I., worked for a 92-year-old man and his 88-year-old wife who suffered from dementia and needed around-the-clock care.

But instead of making their golden years more comfortable, Simmons stole from the couple, forging checks from two bank accounts and writing them out to herself.

In December, an official at Merrill Lynch notified the husband’s son that numerous checks appeared to have been forged.

Those checks were all payable to Simmons to the tune of $177,722. She pleaded guilty to grand larceny on Aug, 1.