A UK court has sentenced Nigerian care home worker, Abiola Akinremi, to seven months in jail for stealing from the savings of vulnerable residents.
Akinremi was arraigned before the court for using her position as an administrator at the facility, Bostall House in Abbey Wood, Southeast London, to effect unauthorized withdrawals from the bank accounts of patients.
The prosecuting team said some of the residents in the home were detained under the Mental Health Act, and those without family support handed over control of their finances to administrators and carers.
Police investigations revealed that Akinremi started stealing from residents when she needed money for childcare, and continued the theft to “fund her own lifestyle”.
While talking to the court, 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.”
Investigators intervened when concerns were raised about Akinremi’s activities in November 2018. They discovered £43,000 was missing from residents’ bank accounts, which included £32,000 from one victim.
Levack said: “The way in which cash and money was dealt with on behalf of residents at the home was not up to scratch.”
Akinremi denied involvement in the fraud till the first day of her trial and insisted that other staff at the home were attempting to “pin the blame” on her. She ultimately admitted she took £19,650 in eight months from three residents, and continued to say others at the home were involved in wrongdoing.
Her Lawyer, Ranjeet Dulay said: “Ms Akinremi is only responsible for her own conduct.”
Dulay revealed that the administrator had been suffering from depression when the fraud started and needed money for childcare when the fraud commenced.
She said: “It was initially an opportunistic offence, but she continued to engage in it further.”
She added that Akinremi went to work in another care home after her dismissal from Bostall House, and has been “trying to make amends and put into the type of community that she stole from.”
A plea for a suspended prison sentence was rejected by Judge Rafferty who concluded that only an immediate spell behind bars would be appropriate.
Akinremi, from Tilbury in Essex, pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to seven months in prison by the presiding judge, Angela Rafferty KC.
While talking to her the Judge said: “This was a repeated and planned course of conduct, and a very serious breach of trust of vulnerable people.”
First published in Nigerian Canadian Newspaper, Canada