A Melbourne carer who stole $170,000 from an elderly man by forging his signature also swiped the credit card of a teenager who was a guest at her home. Manjula Kempster, 57, was today jailed for two years, with a minimum of 12 months, for her crimes against 83-year-old Raymond Woff in 2015. “He was vulnerable and trusted you,” Victorian County Court judge Paul Grant said. “His family trusted you. Your behaviour was a shocking abuse of trust.” Kempster was friends with Mr Woff’s daughter when she accepted a job looking after the 83-year-old, who required 24-hour care. Over 19 months, Kempster forged Mr Woff’s signature 38 times on cheques she wrote to herself, to the value of $170,568.13. She also tried to obtain a further $13,000 with another forged cheque. The Sri Lankan-born woman was originally charged with more than 100 fraud offences over the money she stole from Mr Woff. She pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud, and one count of attempted fraud, in late 2017. The aged care worker also stole and used a credit card belonging to a 15-year-old student who was staying at her family home in November 2016. Kempster was convicted and fined $700 over that theft in 2017.
