A Rochdale woman has been sentenced after defrauding her elderly ill mother out of over £100,000.
Gaynor Casey, 60, of Albert Royds Street, pleaded guilty to fraud by position of trust at an earlier hearing and was today sentenced to 12 months in prison at Minshull Street Crown Court.
Casey initially took over the mother’s finances in November 2008, and used the sale of her £80,000 house to help fund numerous personal items including trips to Paris, utility bills and car insurance as well as withdrawing money.
Detective Sergeant Ian Paterson said: “What Casey did to her own mother is quite frankly disgusting. She took advantage of an elderly lady who relied on others for care and spent the money to fund her own life style.
“She withdrew thousands of pounds while spending hundreds on luxury trips to Paris, buying tickets to the theatre and football as well as purchasing electrical goods.
“Not only did she deceive her mum, who sadly died late last year, but she stopped paying for her care in October 2012. The care home is owed over £24,000 in fees and will not get that money back.”
In November 2008, Casey was named power of attorney over her mum’s finances and due to her ill health, she was placed in a care home.
In December 2009, her mother’s house was sold for nearly £80,000 to help pay for her care.
Previous to the sale of the home, Casey had contacted Rochdale council saying her mother was below the threshold, entitling her to financial support.
When the council asked for 12 months worth of bank statements to support her claim, she did not reply.
Casey contacted them again in August 2012 with the same enquiry and arranged to fill in assessment forms with a benefits officer and it was noticed significant amounts of money had been withdrawn from the account, although she claimed these were gifts from her mum to the family.
But the GMP were contacted begun an investigation. They uncovered that in five years, between November 2008 and December 2014, Casey had fraudulently obtained a total of £120,454.73.
