Le Figaro Marseille
It is a case of theft from a vulnerable person which gave a hard time to the investigators of the southern division of Marseille, seized in May 2023 of a vast case of falsification and use of stolen bank checks to the detriment of an octogenarian from Marseille.
This Friday, March 22, the author of this well-organized theft was sentenced by the Marseille judicial court to a six-month prison sentence with a two-year probationary suspension, and to a one-year ban on issue checks,
Le Figaro
learned from the Marseille prosecutor's office.
This 39-year-old care worker was found guilty of stealing, forging and cashing numerous checks belonging to an elderly woman for whom she had been cleaning in recent years.
The case was brought to the attention of the authorities on May 5, 2023, when the victim and her relatives filed a complaint against the suspect, whom they suspected of being behind these thefts. repeated.
The old lady noticed in particular that several checks from her book had been stolen and cashed behind her back.
After contacting his bank, the octogenarian discovered that the transfers had all been made to a bank account linked to his carer.
Money used to repay a mortgage and
“
go shopping
”
According to a police source, this mother from Marseille had been employed by the victim to clean her home twice a week for five years.
During this period of time, the caregiver took advantage of the old lady's carelessness to discreetly steal several checks from her before filling them out and fraudulently cashing them for the booklet A of her own daughter aged 7 years.
In total, nearly 32,000 euros were transferred without the octogenarian's knowledge.
Entered into the investigation for
“theft from a vulnerable person”
,
“forgery of checks”
and
“use of falsified checks”
, the southern division of Marseille discovered during its investigations that the accused was still working on behalf of elderly people via a home help service agency in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille.
Summoned several times by investigators to explain herself, the carer first tried to keep the police out of company by not responding to the summons, even blocking her telephone line so as not to be contacted.
The police finally managed to arrest him after issuing an appearance warrant.
In police custody, she admitted the facts in full, first claiming to have had this money transferred to
“feed her daughter”
whom she was raising alone.
This version did not convince the investigators, the assistant finally admitted to having used the stolen money to repay his mortgage,
“go shopping”
and send money to his eldest son residing in Cape Verde.
Cornered, the mother had no other choice than to agree to appear before the Marseille criminal court as part of an appearance on prior admission of guilt (CRPC), at the end of which she was declared guilty of
“theft facilitated by the state of a vulnerable person, counterfeiting or forgery of a check and use of a forged check”
.