Health Aide Charged with Embezzling $30K from 105-Year-Old WWII Vet Rejects Plea Deal

A former home health aide charged with stealing more than $30,000 from a 105-year-old World War II veteran from Groton, Conn., has opted to take her case to trial.

Yamilka Vaquero-Perez appeared in New London Superior Court on Tuesday where she rejected an offer from state prosecutors that would send her to prison for up to 18 months. As a result of the rejection, her case now moves to the trial list with jury selection possible in the coming weeks.

Groton Town police arrested Vaquero-Perez on June 15, 2023, following their investigation into reports she was illegally using the credit card of an elderly resident at Solstice Senior Living, an assisted living facility, for her personal expenses. The victim was identified by police as Elsie Lignelli, who when she was interviewed by The Day in 2022, was considered to be one of the oldest WWII veterans in the state.

Lignelli served as an Army medic with the Women's Army Corps during WWII.

Lignelli's nephew, Daniel Spring, came to police to report the alleged thefts on Jan. 6, 2023. The victim's new home health aide had alerted him "that something wasn't right," in relation to previous transactions on Lignelli's credit cards.

Between 2018 and 2022 police said the amount of expenses on Lignelli's credit cards had suddenly risen from $500 per month to $2,000 per month despite the fact that Lignelli had not changed her habits. Her credit card bills were automatically paid from her checking account each month, and the unusual activity went unnoticed.

While Lignelli did agree to loan Vaquero-Perez $3,000 to resolve some of her financial problems, police said she never authorized the estimated $30,000 worth of purchases made between 2018 and 2022 while Vaquero-Perez was working for her.

The charges on the credit card include purchases at Walmart in Windham, a Windham oil company, AT&T and various other retail establishments, places Lignelli would not have a reason to shop at or do business with, police said.

During the investigation, Lignelli told police that Vaquero-Perez had come to her with $500 and "told her that the money should be more than enough to make up what she had charged for herself," police reports show.

"Vaquero-Perez asked Lignelli to not get the police involved because she was trying to have children," according to the arrest warrant affidavit in the case.

Vaquero-Perez is represented by Willimantic-based attorney Jerome Paun, who stood beside her Tuesday while Judge John Newson questioned her about her decision to reject the plea agreement.

Vaquero-Perez is charged with first-degree larceny, credit card fraud, first-degree identification theft, criminal impersonation and two counts of credit card fraud. The charges carry a maximum penalty of nearly 40 years in prison with a conviction.

Lignelli, according to published reports, celebrated her 106th birthday in July and now lives out of state.

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