Waltham Nursing Home Worker Sentenced For Stealing From Resident

WALTHAM, MA — A former Waltham nursing home administrator pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly resident and using the money for repairs to her home, vacations and dining at restaurants, Attorney General Maura Healey said Tuesday.

Christina Polcari, 54, of Belmont, the former admissions' director at the Meadow Green Nursing Home in Waltham, was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury for one count of larceny over $1,200, five counts of forgery and one count of embezzlement by fiduciary, in September 2020.

Between August 2018 until May 2019, Polcari misappropriated more than $230,000 of a nursing home resident's funds. Polcari admitted to using the resident's forged signature for promissory notes, letters and checks to cover up the theft.

Polcari left her position in 2019 when nursing home officials became aware of her activities, Healey said. Before she left, authorities said she repaid a portion of the money back.

Polcari pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to Larceny over $1,200 from a person over 60 years old, five counts of forgery, and embezzlement by fiduciary.

Judge Paul Wilson sentenced Polcari to three years of probation, ordered her to pay $76,000 in restitution to the victim and a $5,000 fine. The court ordered the following conditions of probation: stay away from and no contact with the victim, witnesses, and the Meadow Green Nursing Home facility and staff; refrain from non-familial fiduciary duties and power of attorney duties; refrain from any licensed social work; refrain from employment in which direct compensation is derived from MassHealth or Medicaid; refrain from non-familial fiduciary work with disabled individuals or those over 60 years old.

The Middlesex District Attorney's Office referred the case to the Attorney General's Office because the allegations involve Medicaid fraud, officials said.

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