CORRECTION: The Volusia Sheriff's Office has alerted media outlets thata Acuna was a nursing assistant, not a nurse as per their initial statement.
DELTONA, Fla. - 31 year-old Tiffany Acuna has been arrested and charged for allegedly using an Alzheimer patient's identity to pay for plastic surgery, according to a new release from the Volusia Sheriff's Office. Acuna was the 88 year-old victim's in-home nurse.
The VSO's statement alleges that a $7,160.11 charge was issued to a credit card opened in the patient's name. Her husband saw the bill and said that neither he nor his wife created the account. The charge was linked to Moon Plastic Surgery, a Miami-based cosmetic surgery provider.
The transaction was listed as having occurred on November 1st, but was apparently only recently caught. A VSO detective contacted Acuna to ask her about the charge, and she reportedly denied it at first in a phone interview. She is said to have later contacted the victim's husband to arrange a plan to repay the charge.
When Acuna arrived at the home, she reportedly had $1,500 in-hand in an envelope along with a loan agreement contract. The VSO had deputies and detectives on-scene, who promptly took her into custody. At the scene of the arrest Acuna is said to have told detectives she'd gotten permission from her patient to use her name on the credit card account.
Acuna was booked Thursday at the Volusia County Branch Jail on charges of grand theft and fraudulent ID use without consent on a victim over 60. She posted her $10,000 bail and was released about two hours later.
