A woman has been arrested for allegedly impersonating a nurse and working at multiple California hospitals without a license.
The Burbank Police Department arrested Amanda Leeann Porter on Nov. 7 after hospital staff at Saint Joseph City Medical Center reported that she was pretending to be a nurse while tending to patients, police said in a news release.
Police alleged that Porter, originally from Virginia, fraudulently applied for a job at the hospital and was accepted. She cared for about 60 patients, according to the affidavit, between April 8 and May 8, before staff realized she was posing as a real non-California registered nurse.
“By the time Porter was fired, she had received two paychecks during her fraudulent employment,” police added.
Photo by Amanda Leeann Porter.
Burbank Police Department
Porter, 44 – who police said did not have a registered nurse’s license – is also accused of committing a similar crime at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles.
“During this investigation, detectives learned that Porter continued to obtain employment at various local hospitals using various false identities,” the police statement said.
Porter was released from the custody of the LA County Sheriff’s Department after he was arrested in Santa Clarita, according to police.
Porter faces charges of identity theft, forgery and felony theft. According to the LA District Attorney’s office, Porter pleaded not guilty to all charges on Wednesday, November 13.
“Ms. Porter’s alleged actions are deeply troubling and outrageous as she defrauded patients and medical professionals, betraying the trust of those who rely on our medical community in their most sensitive time of need,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.
“We acknowledge the deep suffering this situation may have caused to those treated by the defendant,” the statement continued. “Our office will work relentlessly to hold this individual accountable and ensure justice is served.”
Los Angeles Times reported that Porter is also on federal probation for fraud in Virginia, and that a woman named Amanda Porter-Eley pleaded guilty to impersonating a nurse and committing bank fraud in the state.
The media reported that Burbank police would not confirm whether Amanda Leeann Porter and Amanda Porter-Eley are the same person, but that their ages match and that both names were used in earlier court filings.
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Porter-Eley was found guilty of impersonating a nurse in Virginia and served six months as an unlicensed nurse supervisor, the U.S. Department of Justice said, according to times. The woman is accused of using the identity of a nurse from September 2015 to 2016 to open bank accounts and take out loans for cash, services and goods worth about $450,000.
Burbank police said Porter is being held without bail at the LA County Central Regional Detention Center in Lynwood.
Authorities are now seeking more information about the Porters case, with Burbank police saying they “may have committed additional similar offenses in the Southern California area over the past year.”
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact local police or Burbank detectives at (818) 238-3210.
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Source: HIS Education