WEST PALM BEACH, FL — Six of the payments allegedly kept coming after the 92-year-old man was already dead.
That detail sits near the center of the newest case against Megan Elizabeth Bernat, a 46-year-old Port St. Lucie woman and licensed clinical social worker who West Palm Beach police say used her job as a MorseLife care manager to move money out of the accounts of elderly residents she was paid to help.
Bernat was arrested July 22, 2026, on new felony charges of exploitation of an elderly person and money laundering, according to Palm Beach County court and jail records. It is her second arrest in the same investigation. She was first arrested in September 2025 on similar charges involving a different MorseLife resident.
According to the probable cause affidavit, West Palm Beach police allege Bernat spent about 18 years working at the MorseLife senior living campus at 4920 Loring Drive in West Palm Beach, where she served as a care manager and social worker for residents who needed help with daily life and, in some cases, their finances.
The case began with a phone call from a financial advisor. On July 17, 2025, Julian Rubinstein, an investment advisor with American Asset Management in Boca Raton, reported to West Palm Beach police that he had found roughly $65,000 in suspicious Capital One mobile payments while reviewing the bank statements of a client who lived at MorseLife, according to the affidavit. He told police he suspected the woman's case worker, whom he identified as Bernat.
Rubinstein said what first caught his attention was a series of mobile payments to Capital One on his client's bank statements. They were unusual, did not appear related to her normal expenses and were not transactions she had authorized, he told Boca Post.
"When I reviewed her bank statements, I saw repeated mobile payments going to Capital One that did not make sense. We went to her bank and filed a fraud claim, and the bank refunded 60 days' worth of transfers the next day. That is when I knew the matter needed to be reported to the police," Rubinstein said.
He told police he reported the activity to the client's bank in June 2025, and the bank in turn flagged it to Capital One before he brought it to detectives, the affidavit states.
Investigators wrote that the first resident, a woman in her 70s, had dementia, was visually impaired, had no children and depended heavily on staff. Police say certified bank records showed her account was used for 55 mobile payments totaling about $68,540 to a Capital One account belonging to Bernat between February 2023 and June 2025. The money, according to the affidavit, covered personal expenses that included gas, groceries, restaurant meals, Amazon and Instacart orders, car repairs, pet bills, ride-hailing charges and SunPass fees — including a pet bill for a resident who, investigators noted, had no pet.
Bernat was arrested at MorseLife on September 3, 2025. Police say that during that interview she first denied wrongdoing, then acknowledged making payments from the resident's account, telling detectives she had overspent and was "too ashamed to ask" for financial help, according to the affidavit. She was read her Miranda rights and charged with exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult over $50,000, two counts of criminal use of personal identification information and money laundering.
The second case grew out of the first. While working the original investigation, detectives wrote, they found a second "frozen" bank account that had been used to send about $30,000 to Bernat's Capital One card.
Police say that account belonged to a 92-year-old man who moved into MorseLife in December 2021 and was assigned Bernat as his full-time care manager. Certified records showed his account was used for 30 mobile payments totaling about $31,295 to Bernat's Capital One account between May 2023 and April 2024, according to the affidavit. Investigators wrote that seven of those payments were made after the man was referred to hospice in March 2024, and six were made after he died on March 15, 2024.
Detectives cited text messages and emails recovered from Bernat's phone, along with MorseLife care records, that they say identified her as the man's care manager and linked her Capital One account to his payments.
The West Palm Beach Police Department investigated both cases, with Detective Stefanie Dion listed as the investigating officer. A full extradition arrest warrant was requested in the second case because Bernat had left MorseLife and was living in St. Lucie County, records show.
Bernat was booked into the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center on July 22, 2026, jail records show. The new charges are exploitation of an elderly person, $10,000 to $50,000, and a money-laundering transaction of $20,000 to $100,000, both second-degree felonies. Jail records listed no bond amount on either charge, and a first appearance was set for July 23, 2026.
Both cases — 50-2025-CF-007079 and 50-2026-CF-005240 — were listed as open in Palm Beach County court records.
Rubinstein said the case is a reminder of why older residents need someone watching their money closely. "This case shows why elderly clients need a trusted financial advisor who is actively reviewing their accounts, not simply managing investments," he told Boca Post. "Careful oversight of bank statements, transfers and spending patterns can uncover problems before the losses become even greater."
Boca Post is withholding the residents' names because both are identified in the records as victims of a crime, and identifying information for crime victims is protected under Florida's victim-privacy provisions.
The charges are allegations. Bernat has not been convicted, and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Stay informed on West Palm Beach arrests and jail bookings, including DUI arrests, drug charges, theft cases, and felony charges.
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