Imposter care worker who stole £250k from 93-year-old with dementia fails to repay money

A fraudster care worker who was previously convicted and jailed in 2017 for conning a blind 93-year-old war veteran diagnosed with dementia out of nearly £250,000, is back in jail after failing to repay the money she stole.

Last week, Veronica Robinson was sent to jail for another 426 days by Birmingham Magistrates Court for failing to comply with the order to repay more than £70,000 with accrued interest.

Councillor Nicolas Barlow, cabinet member responsible for trading standards, said: “Veronica Robinson did the unthinkable, cheating an elderly and vulnerable resident out of his life savings and our trading standards team has been determined to see this case through and ensure she repays the money.

“She has continued to deny ever stealing money from the victim and has evaded court orders to repay ever since she was found guilty.

“This case sends a clear message that we will investigate wrongdoing and support victims of financial crime.”

The investigation found Veronica Robinson began cleaning the house of a blind Second World War veteran in 2013. She then took control of the victim's life, claiming to be his care worker, changing the locks of his home, taking the victim to the bank to make weekly withdrawals of up to £2,000 a time and preventing contact with the victim's friends and family, before using his savings to buy herself a house.

Ms Robinson even arranged for solicitors’ letters to be sent to the victim’s family, telling them his financial affairs and his relationship with her were ‘none of their business’ and isolating him from family, friends and neighbours who had previously helped care for him at his home in Halesowen.

More callous actions included Ms Robinson cancelling GP appointments and blocking visits by social workers and medical practitioners to assess his mental condition before moving on to manipulate the now-deceased man by writing a cheque to herself from the victim’s cheque book, for £188,000, which she used to buy herself a detached home.

The fraudster also persuaded the Second World War veteran, who served in the North Atlantic to sign 34 cheques, 28 of which were written by her, to withdraw a further £62,400 from his account at a Halesowen bank during the 19 months she worked for him.

Although the victim signed some of the cheques, he was suffering from dementia which meant he lacked the necessary capacity to understand his actions.

The twice-married veteran was a highly skilled welder who worked on oil rigs worldwide and was awarded an MBE for services to industry. His friends say he hated being alone and would regularly go to the gym into his 90s, but later diagnosed with dementia and a degenerative eye complaint left him registered as blind and dependent on others for help with his finances.

’She was a cleaner who didn't clean and a carer who didn't care’

At the original prosecution in 2017, Mark Jackson said her victim “became totally dependent on her and was almost besotted with her.

"She systematically abused her position of trust in a determined and well-planned way, defrauding him out of hundreds of thousands of pounds."

Entry warrants executed at Ms Robinson's home revealed she had obtained statements and account details for all of the victim’s finances.

In addition, draft wills and documents, written by Ms Robinson, were also discovered that gave her full power of attorney over the victim.

It was only after an injunction was brought to prevent Robinson from contacting the victim could he be assessed.

Visitors to World War II veteran's home were stunned by how dirty it was and how Ms Robinson controlled him. One said: "She was a cleaner who didn't clean and a carer who didn't care."

Although the house paid for by the victim has been returned to the family, Ms Robinson still had an outstanding order to repay money stolen from the victim under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

'Society appears to be turning a blind eye'

The charity, Age UK reports that almost five million people aged 65 and over (43 per cent) believe they have been targeted by scammers. Those with dementia are at particular risk.

Scams can be committed over the phone, through the post, on the internet or face-to-face, often on the doorstep.

In England, the number of people over 65 living on their own is expected to rise to just under five million by 2030, and the number of people with dementia is projected to rise from 850,000 now to over a million by 2025 meaning, significantly more older people could be at risk from being scammed.

Professor Keith Brown, from the National Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work at Bournemouth University, said: “Vulnerable and elderly people are repeatedly being singled out and targeted because criminals view them as soft targets.

“They are afforded very little protection by the system because they are often isolated and unknown to the authorities.

“Society appears to be turning a blind eye, just as it did historically with child sexual exploitation. This is yet another wake-up call as to the depth and scale of the problem of financial abuse of the vulnerable.

“As a society, we must open our eyes to the scale of these issues and find new and improved ways to help protect and support the vulnerable.”

To read about how to protect yourself or an elderly or vulnerable loved one from scams click here