Iowa nursing home administrator accused of stealing from dementia patient

An Iowa nursing home administrator criminally charged with stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly resident has agreed to refrain from practicing while an investigation is pending.

Chelsi Ingles, 34, of Tipton, is facing charges of first-degree felony theft against an older individual, dependent adult abuse by exploitation, ongoing criminal conduct and tampering with records. She has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges.

Prosecutors allege that in December 2023, Ingles, while working as the administrator at the Aspire of Muscatine nursing home, stole two checks belonging to a female resident of the home. State records indicate that at the time, the resident had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, dementia and epilepsy.

Ingles is alleged to have cashed one of the resident’s checks and collected $8,500, after which she deposited $3,500 into the resident’s trust account at Aspire of Muscatine.

A week later, she allegedly used the second check to deposit $8,500 into a bank account she had set up for herself and the resident. Later that day, Ingles allegedly transferred $8,500 from that account to a separate account she shared with her husband.

Prosecutors allege that in January 2024, during an internal investigation at the home, Aspire asked Ingles to return the resident’s money and any receipts she had for purchases that were made with trust-account money. Ingles allegedly returned only $3,202 in cash. Prosecutors say she also provided her employer with questionable documentation that falsely suggested the rest of the money was used to purchase food, furniture and a television for the resident.

State inspection records indicate executives with the Aspire chain of nursing homes admitted that they didn’t notify the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing of the suspected theft, as required by law, and also didn’t inform law enforcement officials.

Ingles worked for Cedar County and for Clinton facility

State records show that in 2022, before Ingles began working at Aspire of Muscatine, Cedar County fired Ingles from her position there as a public health manager, allegedly for timecard theft. The county had compared Ingles’ timecards with electronic data showing when she arrived for work each day and had concluded she was claiming pay for hours never worked. Ingles said she worked odd hours at times and occasionally performed work, such as viewing work-related videos, outside normal office hours.

Ingles was initially denied unemployment benefits, with the judge in her case finding that even if she had been given permission “to arrive early or watch videos and bill at odd hours, that does not excuse her ongoing, poor recordkeeping that only worked to her advantage.” The Employment Appeal Board subsequently reversed the judge’s decision, noting that Ingles “had never been reprimanded, or issued any warnings about the way she spent her time or how she recorded her hours.”

State records also show that after Ingles left her position at Aspire of Muscatine, she served briefly as the administrator at Addington Place, an assisted living center in Clinton.

Ingles’ attorney recently obtained a continuance in the criminal case due to ongoing plea negotiations with county prosecutors, who are seeking a total of $8,523 in victim restitution in the matter. A pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for March 13.

Recently, the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators entered into a settlement agreement with Ingles. The board agreed that it would not pursue formal disciplinary charges against Ingles until the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing completes its investigation of the 2023 incident and Ingles has been given a chance to respond to the findings.

In the meantime, Ingles has agreed to refrain from practicing as a nursing home administrator until further order by the board. As a result, the status of her state license, which expired in December, is listed as “suspended.”

During Aspire of Muscatine’s most recent annual inspection, in May 2025, the home was cited for 17 regulatory violations — an exceptionally high number. The violations included inadequate quality of care; failure to maintain residents’ nutrition and hydration status; inadequate respiratory care; failure to maintain sufficient, competent staff, and inadequate food services and infection control.

On the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ five-star quality scale, Aspire of Muscatine currently has a one-star rating for both overall quality and health inspections.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.