By Mike Danahey mdanahey@stmedianetwork.com @DanaheyECN February 28, 2014 4:54PM
Lalaine Regencia, 46, of Cary
Updated: March 2, 2014 2:55AM
CARPENTERSVILLE — A woman hired to be a caregiver for an elderly resident with Parkinson’s disease is facing criminal charges for allegedly using the 86-year-old victim’s credit cards without her permission, running up thousands of dollars in charges.
Carpentersville Police Cmdr. Timothy Bosshart said the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Lalaine Regencia, 46, of Cary, with financial exploitation of the elderly and two counts of theft. All are class 2 felonies.
Regencia surrendered Thursday night and posted $1,000 bond Friday morning on the charges, Bosshart said.
According to reports, police met with the victim’s grown son and daughter on Jan. 7. The family members said they discovered Regencia had been using their mother’s Chase card since April or May 2013 through last December, with a balance going from zero to close to $16,000 in that span.
The son and daughter told police that after receiving a Kohl’s bill in the mail with more than $1,100 in charges on it made in December, they confronted Regencia at their mother’s home on the east side of the village. They said they asked for their mother’s purse back, which Regencia had in her car. They said Regencia admitted to using the cards and offered to pay back the money, but the son and daughter decided to contact police.
Police met with the victim Jan. 9 at an Elgin assisted living community, where she is now living, reports stated. She told them she had no idea Regencia — who was hired through a senior care agency — had made the charges until she saw the Kohl’s bill.
Regencia had been working as a caregiver for the victim since February 2013, reports stated. The victim said she trusted Regencia, who would use her own car to take the victim to church, stores and to get her hair done.
On Jan. 14, according to reports, police met with Regencia who admitted to using the victim’s Chase credit card since spring or summer, to pay bills and to buy groceries and clothing.
When police asked her about the Chase bill approaching $16,000, the report stated Regencia said she didn’t realize it had gotten that high.
She told police she had made some payments at Chase branches and that she intercepted the mail so the victim wouldn’t see the bill.
The report stated that Regencia said she used the Kohl’s card for Christmas shopping, but couldn’t recall if the victim gave her permission to do so.
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