Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 47-year-old Rhonda Henderson of Buffalo has been arraigned before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller on a seven count indictment. She has been charged with one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, one count of Identity Theft in the First Degree, three counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and two counts of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree.

It is alleged that between November of 2014 and August of 2017, the defendant abused her position as the Senior Service Coordinator at St. John Tower, an independent living facility for senior citizens in the City of Buffalo, to financially exploit three tenants, all of whom were over the age of 90 at the time.

The defendant is accused of employing multiple different modes of theft to steal from the three victims, including check diversions, unauthorized use of two of the victims debit cards and the misappropriation of one of the victim’s Preneed Funeral Trust account after she passed away.

Henderson is scheduled to return on Monday, January 7, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. for a pre-trial conference.

If convicted on all charges, the defendant faces a maximum of 7 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Jurusik of the DA’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau is prosecuting the case.

As are all persons accused of a crime, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.