The manager of a Maryland assisted living facility faces federal charges of aggravated identity theft and bank fraud and also has been arrested after being indicted on state charges, including four counts of elder abuse and one count of operating an unlicensed assisted living facility, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. He was arrested Feb. 10.
An investigation into the man, Salah Sood, and the facility he managed, Holland Manor Eldercare in Towson, MD, began in Baltimore County Dec. 3 when police and firefighters responded to neighbors’ reports of a fire alarm. The did not find a fire but did find two residents locked inside the house with no caregiver on the premises. An 80-year-old man was in the dark, and an 82-year-old comatose woman was tied to a bed with a blanket. The seniors were transported to a local hospital.
The facility had its license revoked in September, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene told McKnight’s Senior Living. It previously had been licensed to care for up to 15 residents who need a high level of care.
Sood reportedly told a local television station that on the night of Dec. 3, a staff member had left the building without permission to take care of personal business. He also said that his understanding was that the license revocation did not apply to all residents. He told police, however, that he had left the facility to take a shower and eat, according to the district attorney’s office.
Investigators now also allege that multiple credit card accounts were opened using the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of at least three residents, without their knowledge or permission, and that Sood is listed as an authorized user on the accounts. Purchases on the accounts reportedly totaled more than $59,000 between Dec. 21 and Jan. 22.
Sood faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty of bank fraud and would be imprisoned at least two years if found guilty of aggravated identity theft.
