Salinas caretaker accused of elder abuse, theft and tax fraud

A former certified nursing assistant is accused of neglecting an 83-year-old woman she was hired to care for and stealing money from the woman and her husband.

Daisy Ramirez, 42, of Salinas was arraigned last week on multiple charges of elder abuse, theft from an elder, unemployment fraud and tax fraud. She pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 3.

Prosecutors allege Ramirez also failed to report income from her caregiving services on her personal income tax returns from 2009 to 2012. They also allege she provided false information of her employment situation and failed to disclose her income on her unemployment benefit claims to the Employment Development Department.

If convicted, Ramirez could face a potential sentence of more than 30 years in prison because each of the four tax fraud charges and each of the 52 unemployment fraud charges could be run consecutively if she’s found guilty of all charges.