A South Florida woman is accused of stealing “thousands of dollars” from senior citizens while posing as a home caregiver, authorities said.

According to a news release from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Jamisha Shamari Sylvain, 26, of Deerfield Beach, was arrested on Dec. 19. She faces several charges, including the unarmed burglary of an occupied building, elderly exploitation, criminal use of personal identification information, theft of a financial card and grand theft against people aged 65 or older.

An investigation was opened in October after the sheriff’s office received a complaint that a senior citizen was “being exploited” by an unidentified woman.

“The woman posed as a caregiver at the B’nai B’rith apartments in Deerfield Beach,” the sheriff’s office said in its statement. “According to detectives, the elderly male victim let her into his apartment, where the woman accessed his bank card. She withdrew money from his account multiple times totaling $1,600.”

The 72-year-old man has dementia, court records show.

The transactions from a Bank of America ATM in Deerfield Beach were recorded on video and Sylvain was identified as the suspect.

Detectives also learned that the Deerfield Beach theft was not an isolated incident, noting that there were “several other incidents” where Sylvain pretended to be a caregiver. The sheriff’s office said she allegedly convinced other victims that she was authorized to enter their apartments.

“In some cases, she pretended to be a new caregiver assigned by the victim’s health insurance company,” the sheriff’s office said. “While inside their apartments, she stole their debit cards and told them she needed their personal banking information.”

A warrant was issued for Sylvain’s arrest on Nov. 21. When detectives attempted to arrest her on Dec. 19, Sylvain allegedly tried to escape, which resulted in the additional resisting arrest charge.

Sylvain remains in the Broward County Jail, with bail set at $108,000.

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