Health Aide Racks Up $22K On Nassau 92-Year-Old's Card: Cops

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A home health aide has been arrested on theft charges after police said she racked up more than $22,000 in charges using her Sands Point client's credit card.

Regine Valery, 38, of Rudolph Drive in Carle Place, worked as a home health aide for a 92-year-old woman in Sands Point. In November, the client's daughter called police when she learned a package she'd mailed her mother had been redirected to another address.

Investigators said Valery, who also goes by Regine Johnson, changed the victims mailing address to a PO box in Roosevelt. She also used the woman's credit card without her permission between Aug. 16 and Oct. 7, totaling more than $22,000, police said.

Valery was arrested at her home without incident early Wednesday.

She faces charges including 3rd- and 4th-degree grand larceny and 1st-degree identity theft. She was expected to appear in First District Court that same day in Hempstead. Under new bail reform laws, Valery can not be ordered held on monetary bail conditions. A judge would've had that option before Jan. 1.

Investigators ask that anyone who feels they may have also been a victim call police or dial 911. All callers will remain anonymous.