Nigerian woman, Abiola Akinremi, 41 years old, who is a care home worker has been sentenced to seven months imprisonment in the United Kingdom for stealing almost £20,000 from the savings of vulnerable residents.
The convict was said to have abused her position as an administrator at the facility in Bostall House in Abbey Wood, Old Bailey, in South East London, and made dozens of unauthorised withdrawals from the bank account of patients.
Bostall House at the Old Bailey is a facility that houses mental health residents under the Mental Health Act, and those without family support hand over control of their finances to administrators and carers.
Yahoo News quoted the presiding judge, Angela Rafferty KC as saying: “This was a repeated and planned course of conduct, and a very serious breach of trust of vulnerable people,” while addressing Akinremi in court before sentencing her to seven months in prison.
Prosecutor Robert Levack said: “People who live at the home are all vulnerable, they have various conditions and are detained under the Mental Health Act or other legislation. It is a 24-hour care facility.
“They are not allowed to leave Bostall House without a member of staff or a family member. Some have their financial affairs looked after by the home.”
Investigations into Akinremi’s fraudulent activities dated back to November 2018, when £43,000 was missing from residents’ bank accounts, including £32,000 from just one of the victims.
Akinremi had denied the allegations until the first day of her trial, insisting that other staff at the home were trying to “pin the blame” on her.
She however admitted taking £19,650 over the course of eight months from three residents, adding that others at the home were also involved in wrongdoing.
She then pleaded guilty to a three-counts charge of fraud by abuse of position. Judge Rafferty rejected a plea for a suspended prison sentence, concluding that only an immediate spell behind bars would be appropriate in the circumstance.