Caregiver arrested for swindling her ward out of €500,000 inheritance

The Civil Guard has arrested a caregiver who allegedly swindled her ward out of €500,000 over the course of four years, leaving her in complete destitution.

The main suspect¡¯s two children have also been arrested and charged with prolonged fraud after they were found to have profited from the stolen money.

The alleged fraud took place between 2010 and 2014 in Illescas (Toledo), where the caregiver worked for the victim, 53, and the latter¡¯s mother, now deceased.

According to the investigation, the victim had come into a large sum of money from an inheritance, and was keeping it in several bank accounts. After the caregiver had gained her trust, she recommended bringing all the money into a single account and putting it in both their names, so she could easily ¡°manage¡± her ward¡¯s day-to-day needs, including the payment of bills.

Records show that on the same day the victim agreed to this request, the suspect opened new bank accounts in her own name and that of her children. The caregiver¡¯s former partner has also been accused of covering up the fraud.

Over the course of four years, the victim¡¯s money slowly made its way into the other accounts. The caregiver¡¯s lifestyle began to change ostensibly, and family members began regularly buying jewelry, dining out at restaurants, shopping at malls and traveling.

The victim¡¯s neighbors began noticing she was thinner, because they didn¡¯t even leave enough money for food

Neighbors also noticed that the caregiver purchased nine cars for her children and another for her ex. Neither her children nor her partner held any job that might have accounted for such income.

Meanwhile, the victim began looking worse and ended up in complete poverty, requiring assistance from the social services and the Red Cross.

¡°Her neighbors began noticing that she was thinner, because they didn¡¯t even leave enough money for food,¡± said sources at Civil Guard headquarters in Toledo. ¡°They are the ones who encouraged her to file the complaint.¡±

On December 31, the victim told officers that a person she trusted had taken all her money out of her accounts. The caregiver quit her job on the day the bank balance hit zero.

A police search of the caregiver¡¯s apartment yielded a collection of home appliances, exotic birds, televisions, sound systems, replica firearms and jewelry with a total retail value of over €50,000.