Tiffany Acuna: Florida nurse charged after defrauding Alzheimer's patient, 88, out of $7k to pay for cosmetic surgery
MIAMI, FLORIDA: A nursing assistant allegedly stole the identity of an elderly Alzheimer's patient to pay for over $7,000 of plastic surgery. Thirty-one-year-old Tiffany Acuna is accused of opening a credit card under the 88-year-old victim's name and using it to pay for a series of cosmetic procedures, including a Brazilian butt lift.
An investigation was opened by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office after the victim reported receiving an eye-popping credit card bill on April 4. Acuna was eventually apprehended and taken into custody on Friday, April 28. She was charged with fraud and grand theft, both of which are felonies.
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Slew of cosmetic surgeries
Acuna -- also known as Tiffany Kent, contacted the victim's husband after the police investigation began and asked him to agree to a repayment plan "to prevent criminal charges," according to WESH. The nurse is said to have paid for a slew of cosmetic surgeries in November 2022 at Moon Plastic Surgery in Miami. The victim's husband subsequently alerted the authorities that his wife may have had her identity stolen after receiving a credit card bill for $7,160. Acuna is accused of using the stolen money to pay for procedures including a Brazilian butt lift, a skin-tightening plasma operation, and arm liposuction, an arrest affidavit states.
An in-home nurse who was caring for a @CityofDeltonaFL woman with Alzheimer’s disease has been arrested on charges of fraud and grand theft after opening a credit card in her patient’s name and using it to purchase cosmetic surgery. https://t.co/y784lwAvQr pic.twitter.com/s4DkxbTjZo
— Volusia Sheriff (@VolusiaSheriff) April 28, 2023
'I wouldn't do that'
After police found Acuna's name on the transaction, she initially denied applying for the credit card or receiving plastic surgery. "If you knew me, you would know I wouldn't do that," she allegedly told the officers. However, the evidence soon began to mount as the surgery center furnished copies they had of Acuna's driver's license and the victim's license along with e-signed documents. They said Acuna told them the victim "gave her permission to use her identity to obtain cosmetic surgery."
After her lies began to unravel, Acuna reached out to the victim's husband and allegedly requested him to agree to a repayment plan of $1,000 a month until the money was returned in full, hoping to prevent criminal charges from being filed against her. The nurse allegedly also urged the victim's husband to sign a loan agreement contract. But when she arrived at the elderly couple's residence Thursday morning, April 27, with the contract and $1,500 in cash, she was arrested by sheriff's deputies and detectives who were waiting at the address.
Suspended from nursing job
According to WESH, Acuna was working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) through the nursing registry company American In-Home Care. A spokesperson for the firm said she underwent a background check and was deemed eligible for the job. However, she has been removed from the registry since her arrest and is no longer allowed to be referred through them. Acuna was initially suspended on April 4 after law enforcement opened an investigation into her activities. She is now facing charges of grand theft and fraudulent use of ID without consent of a victim aged 60 or older. The perp was reportedly booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on Thursday but released after she posted $10,000 bail.
