78 Arrested in Nurse Aide Scheme

Seventy-eight people have been arrested in the Los Angeles area in a scheme to sell passing test scores to applicants who otherwise would not qualify to work as certified nursing assistants, state prosecutors said Thursday.

Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said the fraudulently obtained certificates were used to get jobs at 47 nursing homes in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The scheme was first reported by a nursing home administrator who noticed that an applicant could not speak, read or write English, Lockyer said. The tests are given in English.

An investigation by the attorney general’s Medi-Cal fraud unit found that applicants targeted paid as much as $600 apiece for guarantees that passing test scores would be reported to the state. Most of the defendants are applicants who await trial on misdemeanor counts.