A carer pretended to be dying from cancer in a £143,000 fraud on a pensioner with dementia and her 96-year-old husband, a court has heard.
April Jo Richardson span a web of lies to extract money from the victim and her husband, to splash out on a lavish lifestyle including trips to Barbados, New York and Spain.
Across five years, Richardson pretended to need money for a final holiday for her terminally-ill father, she lied about having cancer herself, and said she had to travel to the US for private medical treatment.
Inner London crown court also heard Richardson obtained money for new flooring, new beds for her two sons, and an iPhone and Apple Watch.
She claimed the trip to Barbados was for her brother’s wedding.
The 32-year-old, who had been employed as dementia carer with agency Kare Plus – working for Essex County Council – pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and fraud by false representation.
She was sentenced on Monday to 20 months in prison, suspended for 21 months, with 150 hours of community service and 24 days of rehabilitation.
“The case of April Richardson is shocking and highly reprehensible, especially when you consider the age and vulnerability of the couple and the total amount of money that they lost, through their generosity and kindness”, said Detective Inspector Nichola Meghji, from City of London Police.
“Nurses, carers and those working in palliative care are some of the hardest working and most selfless people in the country where a lot of people, in need, rely on them. It’s therefore very sad to see this level of trust abused.
“Richardson is an incredibly manipulative individual who coerced an elderly couple to part with their money purely for her financial and material gain.”
The force said Richardson, of Stansted Close, Chelmsford, gained the couple’s trust to rake in average payments of £718 a week across five years.
She bolstered the lie about having cancer by posing as a nurse called ‘Sonia’ in messages to the husband, pleading for money and suggesting it was the “last remaining months of her life”.
Her patient had suffered a stroke in 2011 and was in advancing stages of dementia, needing personal care twice a day.
When she needed to be moved to a care home in summer 2022, her children had to provide bank statements to the council for a financial means assessment.
They discovered, to their horror, that their parents were overdrawn after Richardson’s fraud.
A total of 202 transactions had been made to Richardson over the years, and the husband revealed he had been kindly helping her financially.
