Theft charges for ex-manager

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) — The former office manager of Kolob Regional Care and Rehabilitation Center has been arrested and accused of stealing $34,463.50 from patients' accounts.

Eleanor Billington, 46, Cedar City, was arrested Tuesday and charged with felony theft, felony forgery and 15 counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

"She allegedly took money out of (residents') trust accounts, which is used for day-to-day purchases at the facility; as well as their main account that is used to pay for (residents') care or their stay in the care center," police Detective Mike Bleak said.

Bleak said the investigation began in October after accounting discrepancies were discovered. Received payments were shown as not paid and after contacting the victims, it was determined that those payments were in fact made.

The discrepancies date from September 2004 to November 2005.

Billington was brought to the police station Tuesday and after an interview was arrested and booked into the Iron County Jail.

Kolob administrator Glade Hamilton said that as soon as the problem was brought to his attention, Billington was dismissed from her position.

Hamilton said the center has good accounting practices in place.

"My feeling is we had a checks and balance system," he said. "Receipts are what saved us with cash payments."

Nonetheless, changes were made and the accounting procedures are now even tighter.

"I hope people can trust us for what we stand for, not for what happened," he said. "People should not be frightened of care facilities because this is definitely not tolerated, which is evidenced by how we acted on this."

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Information from: The Spectrum, www.thespectrum.com