Caregivers Bilked Bank Account Of Elderly Enfield Woman: Police

ENFIELD, CT — A pair of women who had acted as independent caregivers for an elderly woman were arrested Saturday in connection with an investigation into the depleted bank account of an elderly woman who had been in the duo's care.

Brenda Whitehead, 32, of Manchester and Charlene Wheeler, 60, of Enfield, were arrested on warrants charging them with first-degree larceny and insurance fraud. Bond for each was set at $100,000.

According to an affidavit supporting the women's arrest, between June 2022 and July 2023, Whitehead deposited 34 checks totaling $134,362, drawn from the woman's account.

In Jan. 2024, a nursing case manager at an area hospital told detectives "she had concerns concerning Wheeler and Whitehead financially exploiting [the victim]." Several family members shared the same concerns, according to the affidavit.

Acquisition of bank statements covering a 2-year period "confirmed that Whitehead and Wheeler had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks" drawn on the victim's account. Four other individuals, all later identified as caregivers of the victim, had regularly received checks of much smaller amounts, according to the affidavit..

Paperwork from the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, supposedly signed by the victim, matched the known handwriting of Wheeler and Whitehead, according to the affidavit.

The woman was hospitalized for nearly a month through Jan. 2024, but invoices were submitted for in-home care from Wheeler and Whitehead. "She would not have needed in-home care from Whitehead and Wheeler, since she was under a higher level of care in a hospital," detectives wrote in the affidavit.

An attorney who had been appointed conservator of the woman's affairs by a probate court told police whenever he tried to meet with her alone, "he is met with resistance from Wheeler or Whitehead," saying at times they even canceled her appointments with him.