INDIAN RIVER SHORES — The caretaker who authorities say left her elderly patient to die after helping herself to his money is facing more charges after an investigation revealed she was also defrauding the government.
Gina Albrecht, a nursing assistant, was arrested and charged with manslaughter, elderly abuse, forgery and fraud, in 2013, six months after her octogenarian charge, Indian River Shores resident George May was found dead in his Marbrisa home in 2012.
Police reports detailed how Albrecht had allegedly wormed her way into May’s life as his caretaker and girlfriend, then cleaned him out financially, only to leave him to die of neglect.
A few weeks ago, Albrecht – in jail awaiting trial – and her husband, Ryan, were charged with defrauding the government by collecting food stamps and Medicaid benefits at the same time May’s assets were disappearing.
In January 2011, five months after his wife, Catherine’s, death, George May, then 80, had a CT scan, which revealed “significant brain tissue loss” and “dementia.”
Four months later, a 911 call sent Indian River Shores police to his 2,272-square-foot Marbrisa home where they found May “slumped on the floor, unable to stand.”
In June of 2011, certified nursing assistant Gina Albrecht, 35, entered May’s life as his healthcare aid.
By September, 2011, more than $3,300 in checks signed by May went to Gina Albrecht, childcare for the Albrechts’ two daughters and even to the PTA at one of the daughter’s schools, court records show.
That same month, the Albrechts moved in with May, and Gina began using May’s money to renovate his home for them, according to records.
A month later, in October, $3,600 more was taken from May’s account for the Albrechts’ needs, according to police reports. At the same time, Gina Albrecht was also writing checks to herself on an account she shared with her mother.
In November 2011, Albrecht used the credit cards of May’s deceased wife to help herself to $17,000, court records show. And over the next few months, that amount increased to about $22,000.
In a three-month period from September through November 2011, Albrecht allegedly helped herself to more than $48,000 of May’s money and – to a much lesser extent – her own mother’s money.
Meanwhile, the Albrecht family of four, who had moved in with May, also received food stamps until the end of April 2012, and Medicaid benefits through May 2012, based on an alleged false reporting of their lack of income.
In March 2012, Gina Albrecht took May to a lawyer and became trustee of his estate. In late spring of 2012, $225,000 in May’s Vanguard accounts disappeared. At the time, the Albrechts were receiving public assistance for being indigent.
In the summer of 2012, a very thin and confused May was placed in a residential rehab program by friends and family. There, he gained weight and received physical therapy. A report upon his release said that he was “in need of assistance” because he “was unable to prepare meals due to physical limitations.”
When he returned to his Marbrisa home, Gina Albrecht continued to live with May as his “reluctant” caretaker, according to records.
At some time between Oct. 8 and 12, 2012, while receiving Medicaid benefits and food stamps, Albrecht moved out of May’s home, leaving May, who could not walk and who had severe dementia, alone in his home to fend for himself, records show.
Police found him dead on Oct. 24 after Albrecht called 911. The medical examiner said the condition of May’s body indicated he died from dehydration and starvation between Oct. 20 and Oct. 24, 2012.
In the spring of 2013, Gina Albrecht was arrested and charged with manslaughter, elderly abuse, forgery and fraud, and she has remained in jail for a year. But records show that her husband, Ryan Albrecht, continued to receive public assistance amounts, based on a family of four, through Nov. 26, 2013.
Two weeks ago, Gina and Ryan were charged with “making false statements for public aid and second degree grand theft.”
Police records indicate they received $21,221 in illegal food stamp benefits and $34,654 in illegal Medicaid benefits – despite being the presumed beneficiaries of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that disappeared from George May’s accounts.
