By Alex Watkins
A MARRIED couple have been arrested for defrauding elderly and disabled members of their own family.
According to a Guardia Civil spokesperson, the suspects both made fraudulent charges to the bank accounts of the wife’s grandmother, who lives in a care home, and uncle, who is disabled.
It was her uncle, accompanied by personnel from Almoradí town hall social services, who first reported in December 2023 that charges which he knew nothing about had been made to his account.
Officers based found that the charges had been occurring since and discovered cards associated to the account which the complainant knew nothing about either.
They also interviewed the director of the care home where his mother was living, who helped them to confirm there had been significant, fraudulent charges to her account as well, due to which she could not make the payments for the home as her balance was in the red.
The officers suspected someone close to the victims it had been responsible and after making various enquiries focused on the niece and granddaughter.
The investigation revealed that the couple, despite not visiting her grandmother in the home or her uncle, who lived in precarious conditions due to his illness, had been taking money from them for years, the spokesperson alleged.
The couple had no paid employment and had allegedly been practically living at her relatives’ expense, having spent €45,658 on holidays, clothing, hotels and even reforms in their home.
The suspects, a man and a woman aged 43 and 46, were arrested at the end of May on suspicion of fraud and put before a court in Orihuela, which released them both on conditional bail.
The officers have also asked the court to confiscate any belongings that the suspects had obtained fraudulently.
The Guardia Civil thanked Almoradí social services and the care home for their collaboration.
Information and advice about security for vulnerable people can be found (in Spanish) on the website www.guardiacivil.es/es/servicios/consejos/mayores.html
