Care home manager jailed for stealing thousands from 97-year-old woman

In Birmingham, England, an unnamed 97-year-old woman lived in a care facility managed by Carleen Wilkins. Wilkins used the victim's ATM card to withdraw money every day for about a year, taking a total of 90,000 British pounds (about $147,000). The elderly woman knew nothing about it and had never authorized Wilkins to access her bank account. Click here to read a story with more details from www.itv.com.

Wilkins was busted when she took the victim to the bank one day, causing the bank to become suspicious and take a look at the activity on the account. Once she was caught and her first excuses were not believed by anyone, Wilkins admitted to taking the cash.

Now Wilkins has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail. Because Wilkins was the manager of the care facility and used her job there to steal the bank card, she was in a position of trust. In law, a theft by someone in a position of trust is considered to worse than a theft by a stranger.

I'm glad she's behind bars. She has no business looking after vulnerable people. The elderly victim in this case could have been left with absolutely nothing, and she might never have discovered who took  her money. As it is, she is never going to be able to recover the amount that has been spent.

I am so impressed by the bank that was proactive in looking after their vulnerable customer. I hope, however, that this story reinforces the need to keep an eye on elderly family members, other relatives, and neighbours who are on their own. While it's fantastic that this bank acted as it did, we cannot count on this happening in every case. It's up to all of us to check in with older family members and friends to make sure all is well.