Frazer police charge woman with using nursing home credit card for $42,000 spending spree

Frazer police arrested a woman they say confessed to using a company credit card to steal more than $42,400 from the nursing home where she worked because, she said, they reneged on their promise to pay him bonuses for recruiting new employees.

Jennifer L. Ward, 48, of the 900 block of Thompson Run Road in Springdale Township has been charged with one count of theft and access device fraud.

She was released on an unsecured bond of $25,000 and faces a preliminary hearing on the charges before District Judge David Sosovicka on August 15, according to court records.

Ward, who worked for Passavant Memorial Homes in Ross for more than 20 years, told police she was ‘fed up with the business’ after they failed to pay her $20,000 in signing bonuses when she recruited two people to work for the home, according to a criminal complaint.

Investigators were alerted to the thefts by nursing home officials who said Ward was one of only three employees they suspected of using a company credit card to make unauthorized purchases in the Walmart stores in Frazer, Harrison, Richland and near Aspinwall, according to the complaint.

Police said Ward used the credit card 64 times to purchase gift cards, food, clothing, a sewing machine and multiple vacuum cleaners.

A number of items and gift cards were recovered from Ward’s home after police executed a search warrant, according to the complaint.

Investigators said they were able to locate Ward using store surveillance video that showed her using the credit card at checkouts, as well as camera footage that captured the vehicle’s license plate. she was driving, according to the complaint.

When police confronted Ward about the thefts, she told them she could use the credit card and circumvent the requirement to get a company-approved purchase order by taking the card from an office cabinet. , then returning it at the end of its shift. , says the complaint.

The purchases were made between April 28 and June 3, according to the complaint.

Tony LaRussa is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Tony by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .