Elderly woman's carer arrested for stealing her jewellery and life savings in Malaga
Police officers also discovered that the victim had made her will so that the arrested person would be the sole beneficiary of all her assets
He first gained the trust of the victim, an octogenarian woman who was widowed a few years ago. The elderly woman, despite living in Malaga, is originally from Galicia and had no relatives nearby. That is why the 57-year-old man offered to do her shopping, help her with her housework and to accompany her to alleviate her loneliness, especially since the Covid-19 health crisis.
However, the National Police have arrested the carer for alleged theft and misappropriation. According to the provincial headquarters, he took advantage of the woman's vulnerable situation and her trust to take possession of some of her assets.
In his home, officers found 90,000 euros worth of jewellery belonging to the octogenarian, as well as 60,000 euros in cash that belonged to the victim. In addition, investigators discovered that the elderly woman had made a will in favour of her carer, making him the sole heir to all her assets.
The woman had no children and the neighbour, who apparently acted in good faith, began to monopolise the octogenarian's routines and control her finances, making use of her bank card, in principle for her day-to-day purchases, according to the police investigations.
Allegedly, the individual tried to isolate the woman from the world around her, which alerted both her distant relatives and neighbours, who gradually lost contact with the woman. The calls to her relatives in Galicia became fewer and fewer since she was being cared for by the arrested person, which led them to travel to Malaga to check on the woman's situation.
Apparently, her relatives found her "very physically deteriorated" and "socially isolated", so they convinced her to spend some time with them in her homeland. It was there, in Orense, where the victim went to the police to file a complaint.
The case was investigated by officers in Malaga, specifically by a group specialising in economic crime. According to the findings, the suspect had withdrawn money from the woman's bank account without her authorisation, to the amount of one thousand euros every few months.
Police confirmed that since the suspect had been in control of her finances, the woman's life savings had been reduced from 78,000 euros to just 1,200 euros. Furthermore, the woman's life's worth of jewellery, which she kept in her home, disappeared from the safe - which was later seized at the detainee's home.
Officers also discovered that the elderly woman made a will in favour of her carer, making him the sole beneficiary of all her assets.
After lengthy investigations, police arrested the suspect for his alleged involvement in a theft and misappropriation offence. During the search of the arrested man's house, jewellery valued at 90,000 euros and 60,000 euros in cash belonging to the victim were recovered. The facts are being heard by the 12th Magistrate's Court of Malaga.
