Aged care worker charged with 40 counts of stealing

In Queensland, police will allege a 32-year-old woman stole a debit card from a 104-year-old man through her employment at an aged care facility in Redland Bay and used it to make personal purchases and withdrawals between 19 and 21 August.

After investigations into fraudulent purchases in August, detectives from Wynnum Criminal Investigations Branch have charged the woman with 40 offences.

An investigation was commenced by detectives on 21 August after a report was received from another employee at the facility on behalf of the 104-year-old man after he noticed his debit card was missing.

The aged care facility worked closely with investigators throughout their enquiries, Queensland Police Service (QPS) stated.

QPS also stated: “Police will further allege the woman’s unauthorised transactions from the elderly victim’s debit card accumulated to thousands of dollars.”

“Offences of this nature are a terrible breach of trust against some of our most vulnerable members in society,” South Brisbane District Bayside Crime Group Detective Inspector Wayne Francis said.

“We thank the aged care facility for alerting us to the issue as soon as the debit card was discovered to be missing and for working with investigators to get justice for the victim.

“We encourage all members of our community to be aware of the signs of elder abuse and to report suspected elder abuse immediately.”

The woman is expected to appear before Cleveland Magistrates Court on 11 November.

Image credit: iStock.com/Andranik Hakobyan