WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | ID theft and elder abuse suspect convicted

ID theft and elder abuse suspect convicted

By WTOC staff

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - A case of identity fraud and elder abuse wrapped up in court on Thursday.

Tamera Bascine Smith has been convicted of over 30 counts of identitiy fraud, computer thefts, and elder abuse for crimes committed while working at the Tara Nursing Home in Thunderbolt. Smith plead guilty to all the charges a few weeks ago.

Thursday, a superior court judge sentenced Smith to a six year sentence, five of which will be in prison.

Defendant Tamara Bascine Smith was employed as a Certified Nursing Assistant at the Tara Nursing Home in Thunderbolt from July 2007 to January 2008. Prior to that, Smith was employed at Westview Nursing Home in Port Wentworth.

During Smith’s employment at Tara & Westview, she obtained personal information of patients and employees, such as their name, social security number, and date of birth. Smith used this information to obtain computers, digital cameras, and X-Box play systems from Dell Financial Services. She also obtained dozens of cell phones from a variety of carriers, and opened credit card accounts. Smith often used a victim’s name, social security number, month & day of birth, with their own year of birth.

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