Dena Beaty
A woman who worked at a local law firm has been charged with defrauding the state and a local man.
Dena Cloninger Beaty is accused of making false claims to help relatives get Medicaid, food stamps and state benefits, according to Sgt. R.S. Dover with the Gaston County Police Department.
A grand jury handed down indictments against Beaty last week, and she was formally charged Thursday. Beaty, 42, of Gastonia, was released on an unsecured bond.
In one instance, Beaty filed an insurance claim for a man, Dover said. But instead of giving the man his $16,607.64 for the fraudulent claim, Beaty kept the money, indictments state.
In that same case, Beaty used letterhead from a law firm that never actually represented the man in the claim, according to indictments.
Beaty got food stamps for one relative by claiming he was unemployed, indictments state.
In another instance, Beaty filed a claim saying family members had expenses for transporting a man to and from the Veterans Administration Hospital. According to an indictment, the man was actually given rides in a van owned by the long-term care center where he lived.
Beaty has been charged with exploitation of an elder or disabled adult, four counts of fraud of a medical provider, two counts of obtaining property by false pretense, and one count each of fraud of food stamps and forgery.
