British expat pensioner in his 90s robbed of €50,000 by carer who was meant to look after him

A British man in his 90s was robbed of €50,000 by a local carer who was meant to be taking care of him.

The 91-year-old who lives in Spain began receiving notifications for non-payments for his bills, which puzzled him as he thought that he had more than enough money in his account to cover his expenses.

He turned to his son for financial support but as the notifications kept coming, alarm bells started ringing in his head that something was wrong.

The pensioner, who lives in Rojales, a village in Alicante, contacted the Guardia Civil to report what had been going on.

Launching a probe into the British expat’s bank account, the police noticed a high number of strange withdrawals.

Investigators soon narrowed their focus on his carer, a 64-year-old Spanish woman who had been assisting him at his home for 18 months.

Officers discovered that the woman, who had a criminal record, had used his card to pay for her own lavish lifestyle, which included visiting gambling premises.

The 64-year-old was subsequently arrested in Formentera del Segura and charged with fraud totalling €53,753 (£45,278).

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In July 2022, police arrested two women who stole bank cards from pensioners and illegally withdrew money from their accounts.

The duo, aged 24 and 45, would loiter around ATMs in Malaga and wait for elderly individuals to appear to strike.

One would watch the pensioner put their pin in, and then they would follow the victim and pickpocket their purse or wallet.

They would then enter the memorised pin into a cash machine and withdraw a substantial amount.

The pair would repeat this process regularly until a victim one day noticed that large sums of money were missing from their account.

Soon, other individuals came forward to report the same thing, and the duo were eventually caught red-handed in Cruz de Humilladero district whilst trying to withdraw €600.

They were charged with 12 robberies after stealing a total of €11,130.

The Policia Nacional described the women as “itinerant criminals”.