ATLANTA — An Atlanta therapist accused of swindling her patients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars is now in jail.
Buckhead therapist Colleen Higgins was arrested in an Iowa motel, she'd been on the run for a year.
She was booked in an Iowa jail and faces multiple counts of theft by deception on a warrant issued by the Atlanta Police Department, reported Channel 2's Diana Davis.
Davis spoke with one former patient who sought Higgins' services. Alessandro Salvo told Davis he needed help overcoming trust issues. Instead, Salvo said he was swindled out of thousands of dollars from Higgins.
"I got her the money and immediately she started to avoid me and I knew three weeks later I'd been scammed," said Salvo. "At the end of the fourth week, I told her there would be no more delays and I needed my money immediately … and that's when she disappeared."
Atlanta lawyer David Lilenfeld represents four of Higgins other alleged victims. He told Channel 2's Davis that one couple was taken for $90,000. He said Higgins swindled nearly $400,000 out of others.
"It's a sacred bond and she violated it," said Lilenfeld.
"She knew my buttons that I would help a person in trouble so she played on that," said Salvo.
A board that oversees Georgia therapists and social workers asked a judge to revoke Higgins license on the grounds of unprofessional conduct and ethics violations.
"Last night was the first night in a year that I didn't have a nightmare when I was sleeping about getting robbed," said Salvo.