Woman accused of stealing over 5-year period

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — An employee at an adult day care for people living with memory loss allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars in donations, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.

Marisela Perez, 35, faces charges of theft, forgery and unlawful felony act regarding computers, records said.

An employee with Nevada Senior Services filed a complaint with police, alleging Perez, a front desk receptionist, was “altering letters that were being sent to patient caregivers requesting donations towards [sic] their scholarship program,” documents said.

Nevada Senior Services is an adult day care service for low-income Alzheimer’s disease and dementia patients.

Perez allegedly would alter the letter to request cash for annual agreements, documents said. According to the employee who reported the allegation, Nevada Senior Services does not accept cash nor does it accept donations on an annual basis.

According to police, Perez allegedly stole nearly $30,000 in donations from 2018 to 2023, documents said. They add the employee told them Perez said one of her children had a medical issue and needed money to pay for care.

Staff became suspicious when “a prospective caregiver refused to pay Perez in cash and decided to call the main office instead,” documents said. The organization suspended Perez in June 2023.

“As [an employee] began contacting multiple caregivers, the caregivers advised that they had either paid in cash as per the letter they received or that Perez had been contacting them on their personal cell phones indicating that their loved ones would lose their ‘spot’ at the senior center if an additional amount of money was not paid immediately,” documents said. “[The employee] advised that some caregivers were contacted by Perez stating [her child] required brain surgery or some type of medical treatment and requested donations or loans from caregivers personally.”

While Perez was accused of taking tens of thousands of police, police believe approximately $100,000 in donations was lost due to the altered letters, documents said. It was unclear from the report is Perez’ child was truly ill.

Police attempted to meet with Perez several times before her arrest on May 21, documents said.
Judge Rebecca Saxe released Perez on her own recognizance and did not require her to pay bond. Perez was due to return to court on June 25.