Photo by James Short.
A Philadelphia man has been charged with more than 100 felony counts after he allegedly stole $4,000 from a care-dependent person, then made another $4,700 in unauthorized purchases using their accounts.
Damian Aime, 20, has been charged with 27 felony counts of forgery, 27 felony counts of access device fraud, 27 felony counts of identity theft, 27 misdemeanor counts of theft by deception, and one felony count of financial exploitation of an older adult or care-dependent person, following an investigation by Upper Dublin Township Police.
He is currently free on $10,000 unsecured bail.
The investigation began on Jan. 10, when a woman contacted police regarding unauthorized cash withdrawals that had been made on her father’s bank account. They woman told police she had power of attorney over her father’s finances as he required round-the-clock care, and she suspected that one of his caregivers — identified as Aime — was responsible for the thefts, according to charging documents.
Investigators would later review surveillance footage from the Wawa, which showed Aime making all of the withdrawals, police said.
Less than two weeks later, the woman filed a second report with police after learning that $1,846.55 in authorized purchases had been made on her father’s Amazon account between Jan. 12 and Jan. 17. The woman told police that eight purchases had been made for various items including sneakers and video games, with the deliveries for the first seven purchases being intercepted by her at her father’s home, according to the criminal complaint.
The eighth purchase — a pair of sneakers costing $647.96 — had been shipped to Aime’s home in Philadelphia, after Aime allegedly changed the email and address on the account and listed himself as the account owner, police said.
On Feb. 18, the daughter filed a third report with police after learning her father’s Best Buy card had been used to make $2,860.96 in unauthorized purchases between Jan. 7 and Jan. 8. The purchases included a Playstation 5, an iPhone, Apple watches, and video game peripherals, with all items being shipped to Aime’s address and all purchases occurring while Aime was working at the home, police said.
Investigators interviewed Aime on April 25, at which point he allegedly confessed to making all purchases and withdrawing the cash. Police said he also retrieved five of the items purchased with the Best Buy card from his girlfriend’s house, then turned them over.
In total, police allege Aime stole a combined $8,697.51 from the victim via unauthorized cash withdrawals and unauthorized purchases.
Charges were filed against Aime on May 6, and he was arraigned the following day by Magisterial District Judge Karen Zucker. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on May 24 at 10 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Douglas Lavenberg.
Attempts to reach Aime’s employer, Aveanna Healthcare, for comment were unsuccessful.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
