Ex-Nursing Home Employee Used Patient's ID To Pay Bills: Police

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — A Franklin Park woman is accused of stealing the identities of dozens of mostly elderly people. Anna Zur, 39, was arrested on Wednesday after a year-long investigation, where she was charged with felony counts of wire fraud and continuing a financial crimes enterprise, police said.

When a daughter noticed fraudulent charges in her mother’s checking account used to pay for her stay at Villa at Palos Heights, she contacted police. Working with the care facility’s corporate office, police learned that a former employee, later identified as Zur, had access to the patient’s financial information and documents, according to a news release.

Zur allegedly sent copies of the elderly patient’s financial information and documents to her personal email, which she used to make purchases and pay off debts. The investigation also tied Zur to 34 other people whose identities had been stolen, with total losses reported at $25,000, police said.

“Our detectives were tenacious,” said Deputy Chief Bill Czajkowski, of the Palos Heights Police Department. “We’ve been looking for her a long time. There was a warrant.”

Czajkowski said Zur was taken into custody Wednesday in Franklin Park.

“We have a lot of elderly residents in our community and nursing facilities, so we try to protect them,” he said.

Zur has a bond hearing Thursday at Bridgeview.