A British caretaker has been sentenced to prison for stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly man she was responsible for. The woman was provided access to her client’s bank accounts and drained them to fuel her online gambling habits.

The Woman Betrayed Her Client’s Trust

The woman with the initials A.H. gained power of attorney over her client, who was described as a man in his eighties. Thanks to that, she was able to use his life savings for her personal needs. Over two years, she completely drained the account, fueling expensive vacations and online gambling.

The caretaker’s scam ran from August 2019 to April 2021. In that time, the woman stole a total of £125,000 ($166K) from her client, leaving him with no savings at all. To top it off, the bank account was, in fact, overdrawn at the time of the caretaker’s arrest.

To make matters worse the woman also used the power of attorney to take take three drawdowns from her client’s mortgage. She secured against his home, transferring some £93,000 ($124K) more into her account.

The Client Had Good Friends

Luckily, the man had good friends who suspected that something was wrong. One of them raised suspicions, leading to the fraudster’s arrest.

The arrestee insisted that she had actually been given permission to transfer the money to her own account to pay his bills. She also claimed to have been given a £60,000 ($80K) gift.

The man, who unfortunately passed away soon after the caretaker’s arrest, was able to dispute the woman’s claims before his death. He confirmed that the caretaker was allowed to access his accounts but noted that she could only use his money for his own benefit. The man also refuted the claim that he had gifted her £60,000.

Upon further investigation, the authorities learned that Hill had spent over £108K on online gambling.

The Caretaker Pleaded Innocent

While the woman denied her crimes, the court found her guilty of five counts of fraud and a single count of preventing the course of justice. The judge pointed out that she betrayed the “very significant trust” placed in her and targeted her client’s vulnerabilities.

As it turned out, the crime also hurt the man’s friends and several animal charities that he had decided to support with his money after his death. The authorities will try to recover at least some of the money from the woman.

In the meantime, the caretaker was sentenced to six years in prison.