Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Hollister resident for stealing
and forging checks totaling more than $3,000 from a 51-year-old
quadriplegic woman she had been taking care of for nearly a
year.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Hollister resident for stealing and forging checks totaling more than $3,000 from a 51-year-old quadriplegic woman she had been taking care of for nearly a year.
Denise Mae Gaona, who also goes by Denise Mae Hubbell, 33, was arrested on Wednesday as the result of a month-long investigation by San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies, said Detective Chris Greene.
Gaona had been taking care of the San Juan Bautista resident for almost nine months, but Greene said she began stealing from her about two months ago.
“It was reported by the victim,” Greene said. “She got her statement and realized there were a bunch of checks she did not write.”
Gaona was booked on three separate felony charges – 20 counts of forgery, seven counts of grand theft and one count of elder abuse, according to the San Benito County Jail.
The elder abuse charge was added because if someone is entrusted with taking care of someone and they steal from them they can be charged with a felony, Greene said.
Gaona has several prior arrests for forgery in San Benito County, the most recent dating back 10 years, according to county jail personnel.
In 1994, under the name Denise Mae Hubbell, she was booked three separate times with a total of 18 counts of forgery, according to the jail.
She was also prosecuted at the San Benito County Superior Court for forgery in 1993 and for making fictitious checks in 1994, according to court personnel.
Of the 20 total counts, the grand theft charges were included because seven of the checks she wrote were over $400, Greene said. The other checks were of lesser amounts, and are considered petty theft, he said.
“She took blank checks from the victim, wrote them out and cashed them at different locations – banking establishments – some in Hollister and some in San Juan Bautista,” he said.
After being notified by the victim, deputies began investigating the fraud and eventually asked Gaona to come to the Sheriff’s Department for an interview, to which she agreed, Greene said.
“She voluntarily came in to answer some questions and following the interview she was taken into custody,” he said.
She was then booked into the San Benito County Jail in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Deputies are in the process of completing their investigation, which includes garnering copies of the forged checks and comparing signatures and handwriting, Greene said.
The case is being forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
