Home health care aide pleads guilty to taking client’s money

Lake Worth Beach worker accused of stealing from 5 more

A Lake Worth Beach home health care aide, who is accused of stealing from six senior citizens that she was hired to care for, pleaded guilty Friday to bank fraud in one of those cases, federal prosecutors said.

Jamie Jakia Cofer, 24 — who also used the name Anna Bell — admitted to depositing and cashing an unauthorized $4,200 check that was taken from a client, investigators said.

According to court records, Cofer worked for at least two home health care companies for about one year beginning in January 2019. On May 31 of that year, Cofer deposited a client’s check into another person’s bank account without her client’s knowledge and then Cofer withdrew money for personal use.

Prosecutors said Cofer also used the personal information of at least four other elderly clients, including their names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank account and credit card information. She added herself to the victims’ bank and credit card accounts and made unauthorized and fraudulent purchases and transactions. Cofer also stole an iPhone and credit cards from a sixth victim, investigators said.

She is scheduled to be sentenced June 3 in federal court in West Palm Beach.

Anyone with information about allegations of elder fraud can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833—372—8311. Elder fraud complaints can also be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357. The Department of Justice has resources concerning elder fraud through its Office for Victims of Crime online at www.ovc.gov.