Two year prison sentence for former bank branch manager who transferred nearly 50,000 euros from 89-year-old client to his personal account

A former Caixabank branch manager in Torrevalega has been sentenced to two years in prison for exploiting the trust of an 89-year-old client to transfer nearly 50,000 euros from her accounts into his own, without her knowledge. The fraud came to light two years later when the woman's grandchildren discovered the unauthorised transfers and filed a complaint. The old woman died only a month later.

The sentence is not final, as the defendant has the right to appeal to the High Court of Justice. The court took into account the mitigating circumstance of having made amends for the damage caused, as the accused deposited 50,000 euros in court as soon as he was summoned to testify, with the intention of returning the money to the woman’s estate.

However, the defendant's version that he had been following the woman's instructions was dismissed by the court. During the investigation, he said that the purpose of the transfer had been to administer it. Later, during the trial, he said that he had it on deposit.

The former branch manager also gave different versions in relation to his contacts with the woman: in the pre-trial investigation, he said that he used to visit her every week, but later, during the trial, he said that he used to call her every day. Despite such alleged contact, he was unaware of her condition, her need of a care-taker and her admission to hospital after a fall.

Finally, he stated that he had learned of her death when his lawyer informed him, while a niece of the woman testified that she had told him months earlier.

In short, his versions were dismissed. As the sentence states, the defendant took advantage of the "great trust" (in his own words) that the woman placed in him and, knowing that her advanced age would prevent him from carefully monitoring what she was doing with her money, used the authorisation that she had entrusted to him in good faith. This allowed him to perform repeated transfers, which amounted to 49,910 euros. "After carrying out these actions using online banking behind the woman's back, he simply forgot about her and added the money to his estate, until, two years later, the grandchildren realised what he had done," the ruling states.

The court described the crime as an aggravated fraud. "The specific aggravation contemplated is based on this situation (abuse of personal relations and abuse of professional credibility)," the court stated.