An Invercargill rest home worker has admitted stealing thousands from an elderly couple under her care. The 38-year-old woman, who has interim name suppression, appeared before Judge Bernadette Farnan in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday. Police prosecutor sergeant Penny Stratford told the court the woman was a care worker at the rest home when she found an eftpos card and pin number on a piece of paper in a drawer, which belonged to an elderly couple she cared for. The woman then made 18 transactions using the card, and a total of $7200 was withdrawn from the couple’s account, Stratford said. The offending came to light when the couple’s daughter was helping with their finances and noticed the activity in the account, the court was told. The woman is applying for a discharge without conviction. Judge Farnan noted the woman’s guilty plea, but did not enter a conviction due to the application. She remanded the woman to reappear in court on March 7, and ordered restorative justice be explored.
