Authorities in Arizona have arrested a Kenyan woman accused of impersonating a registered nurse and using another person’s professional credentials to treat patients in multiple hospice settings.
Christine Nyambura Muturi, widely known as Christine Lewis, is facing a string of serious charges, including forgery, fraud schemes, practicing nursing without a valid license, and computer tampering.
According to court documents, Lewis was hired in August by Northern Arizona Hospice (NAZ) in Cottonwood after presenting herself as a qualified registered nurse.
In her application, she claimed to have worked as a triage nurse at a Las Vegas hospital between 2019 and 2022 and described herself as a “compassionate and highly skilled registered nurse” with years of hospice experience. She also submitted what appeared to be a valid multi-state nursing license from Colorado.
During her initial weeks, Lewis accompanied other nurses on patient visits and conducted one solo assignment on August 15. However, her façade quickly unraveled.
NAZ administrators discovered that the Colorado license she presented had been issued four years before she was born. While the name matched hers, the true license holder was a woman 27 years older who later confirmed she had never met Lewis and had never authorized anyone to use her credentials.
When confronted by NAZ officials, Lewis resigned immediately.
The situation escalated when NAZ learned she had already secured employment at Golden Rose Hospice in Mesa. The Cottonwood Police Department was alerted, triggering a deeper investigation.
Authorities later confirmed that Lewis had never been licensed as a registered nurse in any state.
On November 13, an undercover agent from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office met with Lewis under the pretense of preparing to open a new hospice facility. During the meeting, she falsely claimed to hold an active nursing license.
That lie reportedly cleared the way for her arrest.
Lewis was taken into custody at her home in Mesa, near Crismon Road and Ray Road, on Tuesday afternoon.
She was denied bail due to her criminal history, which includes previous arrests for domestic battery in Las Vegas and an earlier fugitive-from-justice case in Los Angeles.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing, and additional charges may follow as they assess the full extent of her activities at the hospic
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