Attorney General James Secures Conviction of Nursing Home Worker for Stealing Over $60,000 from Resident
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured the guilty plea of Rachel Paillet, a nursing home aide formerly employed at The Pearl Nursing Center of Rochester (The Pearl), for stealing a resident’s debit card and withdrawing over $60,000. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) found that from April 2023 to November 2023, Paillet made 220 withdrawals using the resident’s card. Paillet spent the money on groceries, bills, and lottery tickets in an attempt to win back the money she had stolen. Paillet pleaded guilty today to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree in Monroe County Court.
“Nursing home residents must be able to trust and depend on their caregivers to treat them with dignity,” said Attorney General James. “Rachel Paillet violated her duty to the residents she was supposed to care for and exploited a vulnerable New Yorker to line her own pockets. I will not tolerate any abuse or exploitation of nursing home residents and will use every resource at my disposal to make sure New Yorkers in nursing homes get the quality care they deserve.”
Paillet’s victim had a debit card that was primarily used for incidental costs and to cover monthly payments for his nursing home care. In November 2023, when his payment to The Pearl was declined for insufficient funds, the facility contacted his bank and learned of multiple ATM withdrawals between April and November of 2023. A MFCU investigation found that Paillet had stolen the resident’s debit card and used it to withdraw cash at ATMs in the Rochester area, primarily at Delta Sonic Car Wash, Wegmans, and Tops locations. Paillet withdrew over $60,000 of the resident’s money in the seven-month period.
Paillet pleaded guilty today to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree in Monroe County Court. She faces a sentence of 30 to 60 days in jail concurrent with five years of probation and an order to pay restitution.
Attorney General James is a leader in protecting nursing home residents and holding accountable the nursing homes that fail to properly care for New York seniors. In August 2025, Attorney General James secured $12 million and major reforms to stop resident neglect and financial fraud from the Van Duyn nursing home in Syracuse. In November 2024, Attorney General James secured a $45 million settlement and independent healthcare and financial monitors at four nursing homes owned and operated by Centers for Care throughout the state. In March 2024, Attorney General James secured $8.6 million and significant reforms to the Fulton Commons nursing home on Long Island. In April 2023, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of attorneys general in calling for increased transparency of nursing home ownership. In February and December 2023, Attorney General James and United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York Carla Freedman secured more than $7.1 million from the Saratoga Center for Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Care. In December 2022, Attorney General James sued Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on Long Island for diverting millions of dollars in funding from resident care, causing widespread resident neglect and abuse. In March 2024, a judge issued a decision holding Cold Spring Hills and its managing members liable for repeated illegality, and granted OAG’s request for an independent healthcare monitor to oversee the facility.
Attorney General James encourages anyone with information or concerns about alarming nursing home conditions, or resident abuse or neglect, to file a confidential complaint online or call MFCU at (212) 417-5397. If the situation is an emergency, they should call 911.
MFCU Detective Stephen Sachman and Supervising Detective Stacey DiSanto investigated the matter under the supervision of Deputy Chief, Commanding Officer Ronald Lynch, with Auditor-Investigator Kaitlynn Arias, under the supervision of Regional Chief Auditor Jamie Powers and Chief Auditor Dejan Budimir.
The case is being prosecuted by MFCU’s Special Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Buckley and Rochester Regional Director William T. Gargan, with the assistance of MFCU Chief of Criminal Investigations Thomas O’Hanlon. MFCU is led by Deputy Attorney General Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mahoney. MFCU is part of the Division of Criminal Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.
New York MFCU’s total funding for federal fiscal year (FY) 2026 is $70,793,651. Of that total, 75 percent, or $53,095,240, is awarded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $17,698,411 for FY 2026, is funded by New York State.