Fake Nurses Couldn’t Even Take a Blood Pressure. A Jury Just Convicted Their Boss

A King County jury convicted a Kent, Washington, man on all 11 counts for running fraudulent staffing agencies that placed unqualified “impostor nurses” in long-term care facilities across the state, in some cases using the stolen identities and credentials of licensed nurses.

David Mungai Njenga was found guilty on May 28, 2026 of one count of leading organized crime, a Class A felony, along with five counts of first-degree identity theft, one count of second-degree identity theft, three counts of first-degree theft, and one count of second-degree theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 16, 2026, in King County Superior Court.

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According to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Njenga created an illegitimate nurse staffing agency called Heritage Medical Staffing, Inc., based in Kent, which he later renamed Pro Med Alliance Medical Staffing, Inc. From May 2017 through October 2019, he used the identities and credentials of five licensed Washington nurses to send unlicensed and unqualified workers into nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Those facilities believed they were paying for licensed nurses. Instead, prosecutors say, they received impostors. Njenga collected the payments, kept most of the money for himself, and paid the impostor workers far below what a real nurse would earn. The placements stretched across the state, including facilities in Bothell, North Bend, Redmond, Shoreline, Vashon Island, and Yakima.

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The danger was not theoretical. Prosecutors said some of the workers lacked basic healthcare knowledge, including how to take a patient’s blood pressure, and in some cases dispensed incorrect medications, putting vulnerable residents at risk.

“This verdict is the result of our team’s commitment to cracking down on Medicaid fraud and ensuring the safety of our health system,” said Attorney General Nick Brown. “We are gratified to get justice for the many people harmed and put at risk by these crimes.”

Njenga faces a prison sentence ranging from roughly 12 years to 16.5 years and up to $50,000 in criminal penalties. The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division also secured default judgments of $40,500 against each of his two businesses, Heritage Medical Staffing and Pro Med Alliance Medical Staffing.

Impostor nurses are not a one-off Washington problem. A growing number of states have begun tracking fake and impostor nurses and warning of the risk they pose to patients, as fraudulent staffing schemes and stolen credentials surface nationwide. Nurse.org has also reported on similar fake-nurse cases and the patient-safety concerns they create. 

For licensed nurses, the most unsettling detail in this case is the identity theft. Five real nurses had their names and credentials used to staff facilities they likely never set foot in. A misused license can trail a nurse into board investigations, employment checks, and malpractice exposure tied to care they never provided. It is worth periodically checking your license status with your state board and watching for unfamiliar employers or placements attached to your name.

Crime