FOREST HILLS, Pa. — A home healthcare worker charged with stealing nearly $20,000 from an elderly couple shouldn’t have had the job in the first place.
11 Investigates learned that Crystal Flowers was ordered by a judge not to work in the home healthcare field in March. It was a sentence of her probation after she pleaded guilty to financial exploitation of an older adult or care-dependent person and access device fraud. She was originally charged with those crimes in March of 2024.
But within months, Flowers was hired by home healthcare agency, Confiable, and was able to allegedly steal nearly $20,000 from a couple in their mid-80s.
Channel 11 went to Confiable’s offices on the North Shore. The receptionist told us nobody has been there in about six months. We tried calling Confiable multiple times and eventually left a message.
Our question: how was Crystal Flowers able to be hired?
The State Department of Health says healthcare workers must be background checked before being hired by an agency. If that was the case, they would have seen Flowers’ criminal record dating back 15 years.
“They probably didn’t do a background check,” neighbor Mike Brodo said. “Because if they did - they wouldn’t have hired her.”
Komron Jon Maknoon is the lawyer representing Crystal Flowers. He tells Channel 11:
“These are serious allegations, but they are just allegations. Ms. Flowers is presumed innocent, and I will contest any claim not supported by the evidence.”
11 Investigates talked to the daughter of the victims. She says there needs to be an investigation into how Flowers was hired given her record and if any other crimes were committed.
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