Primghar, Iowa — A Primghar woman has been arrested on several felony charges after being accused of stealing money from several residents at the Pride Group, where she worked.
According to criminal complaints filed with the O’Brien County Clerk of Court’s Office by the State of Iowa’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s Department of Inspections, Appeals, & Licensing, 48-year-old Jennifer Lynn Storm of Primghar is accused of stealing over $23,000 from 21 different residents of the Pride Group. She was arrested on Friday.
In his statement, the investigator alleges that from November, 2020 through March 29, 2023, Storm worked as an administrative assistant at Pride Group Primghar, and during that time was responsible for the residents’ money. He says that over several years, she stole $23,358.28 from 21 different residents.
The complaints say Storm allegedly used several different techniques to defraud clients. They allege that she took money from ATM for a resident and kept some for herself, made in-person purchases using a resident’s debit card, made online purchases with a resident’s debit card, purchased gift cards using a resident’s money, withdrew money from an account so a resident could go shopping, then didn’t re-deposit leftovers and kept them for herself instead, withdrew money to send to a resident at another Pride facility and only sent part of the money, altered a signed withdrawl slip to change the amount and kept the difference, took a resident’s social security money and moved it to other accounts to cover up her thefts, and recorded that money withdrawn from a resident’s account was used for purposes it wasn’t actually used for.
Storm was charged with ten counts of felony dependent adult abuse, a class D felony, first degree theft, a class C felony, and ongoing criminal conduct, a class B felony. If convicted of a class D felony, Storm could face up to five years in prison on each count, plus ten years if convicted of the class C felony, and 25 years if convicted of the class B felony.
She faces a preliminary hearing on the charges on Monday, September 25th.
Storm was released the day after she was booked into jail, after posting a $35,000 cash or surety bond.
