A former employee at a New York nursing home is accused of stealing more than $154,000 in money paid by residents for their care and personal expenses.
Tammy Echols, 56, has been charged with second-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced.
Echols worked as a senior account specialist at St. John’s Home in Rochester, where her duties included billing residents and their families for costs that were not covered by Medicaid. She was also responsible for issuing refund checks when residents overpaid the facility.
Prosecutors allege Echols abused that position for more than two years.
Between January 2023 and August 2025, she allegedly created fraudulent refund checks and directed the money to friends, associates and local businesses she owed, according to the attorney general’s office.
Investigators claim Echols embezzled a total of $154,525.99. The money had been paid to St. John’s by residents to cover their own nursing home expenses.
“New Yorkers save up for their entire lives to afford dignified care in a nursing home, and they expect the staff treating them to have their best interests at heart,” James said.
The attorney general accused Echols of taking advantage of the trust residents had placed in the facility and using their savings to benefit herself.
If convicted, Echols could face between five and 15 years in prison.
Online court records show she was arraigned last month. Her next court appearance is reportedly not scheduled until June 2027.
St. John’s described Echols as a former employee and said the nursing home has cooperated fully with the investigation.
“No residents or families were financially impacted by this situation,” the facility said in a statement shared with 13WHAM.
The nursing home added that it already had safeguards in place and has since introduced additional oversight measures to strengthen its financial procedures.
James said Monday, July 20, that her office would continue pursuing people accused of exploiting New York’s health care system.
“We will continue to go after fraudsters who corrupt our health care system and harm New Yorkers,” she wrote on X.
