ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A St. Johns County woman is facing multiple fraud charges for exploiting an elderly man. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office arrested Shuronda Lanae Thomas last week.
Thomas is accused of taking $70,000 from an 85-year-old St. John’s County man while working as his caregiver. The elderly man’s family told News4JAX they’re devastated.
Eric Kenney says he never imagined the person he hired to take care of his father would end up adding to the family’s heartaches. His father, Harry Kenney is battling throat cancer.
“He’s not doing well at all. He was a very trusting man and his trust has been broken,” Kenney said.
in April 2022, Eric hired Shuronda Lanae Thomas, who he says was referred to him by a nearby rehab center where his father used to receive treatment. He says she was using an alias when they met which is why nothing came up in a background check.
When asked what name she used, Kenney said, “I believe it was just Shurhonda Proctor. That doesn’t show up at the sheriff’s department as a problem.”
Eric Kenney says Thomas told him she was the CEO of Devoted Guardians LLC, a large home health corporation.
He says the website and facebook page looked professional. Within weeks of hiring her, investigators say she managed to take thousands of dollars out of his father’s bank account through fraudulent checks with large payouts to her company.
“She forged my father’s signature and then she forged my father’s handwriting to write checks. In about a two week period, she ran through about $46,000. Then she has another $30,000 of double billing where my father actually paid the bill twice,” Kenney said.
This isn’t the first time Shuronda Thomas was arrested for fraud.
According to an arrest report -- she stole $3800 in checks and ran up more than $1000 in credit card charges while working as a home health aide in 2013 for an 85-yr old woman.
She was also arrested in 2004 for cashing worthless checks and again in 2015. Eric believes this is how she makes her money and has this warning for other families. “Take a look and see if you were a part of Devoted Guardians and see if she was involved in your parents’ finances somehow someway.”
Shuronda Thomas is out on bail following her arrest. Eric Kenney says he will continue to take legal action and is working with the bank to get his father’s money back.