From Gardener to Fraudster: Arrested for 'Cleaning Out' the Account of an Elderly Woman He Cared for in Elche

He was the gardener of her house, someone she completely trusted. He was taking care of her after she underwent surgery. What the victim, an elderly dependent foreign woman with no family in Spain, did not know was that her caretaker was 'cleaning out' her bank account without her consent. Numerous withdrawals amounting to nearly 4,000 euros left her ruined. She had nothing left. She was alone and without money. She needed help, and her trusted person had betrayed her.

The National Police have arrested the alleged offender, a 58-year-old man, following the victim's complaint, who was alerted by her daughter. Meanwhile, social services have taken charge of the elderly woman, who was in a vulnerable situation, according to the police.

The investigation began when the victim went to the police station to report allegedly fraudulent charges on her bank account, which she claimed she had not made. Apparently, her daughter, who was outside Spain, noticed that her mother had no money left in her account and immediately informed her.

The victim was recovering from surgery and was under the care of a man with whom she had a 'friendship'. During the investigation, the police discovered that the caretaker had the elderly woman's bank card in his possession, as she had given it to him to do the shopping while she was recovering from the operation.

The investigations into the bank transactions revealed that the now-arrested individual had used the bank card to make multiple cash withdrawals from ATMs without her consent. The arrested man took advantage of the victim's vulnerable situation and the friendship he had maintained with her to commit the acts that left her in a very precarious financial situation.

After the police proceedings, the detainee has been brought before the duty magistrates in the town of Elche.