A codeine and alcohol dependent former nursing assistant has pleaded guilty to siphoning more than $40,000 from the bank account of an elderly woman she befriended at a Gold Coast aged care facility. Ann Jennifer Saunders, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in the Southport District Court yesterday. Saunders developed “a significant level of trust” with Angela Ryan, a resident at the aged care facility at which she worked, before she took her bank card and began withdrawing cash from her account, the court heard. Saunders “blatantly and persistently” withdrew money from the 81-year-old woman’s account 48 times between January 2016 and February 2017. Saunders managed to withdraw a total of $40,970 from Ryan’s Bank Of Queensland account at a Southport ATM without permission for her own “direct personal gain”. The fraud wasn’t detected until the victim’s son checked his mother’s bank accounts and noticed the withdrawals. CCTV captured Saunders withdrawing the money on multiple occasions. The court heard Saunders gave a false version of events and tried to shift the blame on to others when questioned by police before she pleaded guilty yesterday. Saunders had been working at the aged care facility since 2014 but she lost her job as a result of the fraud charge and has since applied for a disability support pension. During sentencing Saunders wept quietly in the dock. Judge David Kent QC took into account trauma experienced by Saunders during her childhood, her lack of a criminal history and various physical and psychological issues in sentencing. “You have an unspecified trauma-related disorder, alcohol dependency and opioid prescription medication dependency — your problems are multiple at best,” Judge Kent said. But he said a “very significant part” of Saunders’ defence was that she was able to fully compensate the elderly woman. Judge Kent sentenced Saunders to two and a half year in prison wholly suspended after three months. The maximum penalty for the offence was 12 years in prison. Saunders was ordered to pay back the $40,970 within a month.
