Beauty clinics and watches: Two caregivers arrested for defrauding an 85-year-old woman of half a million dollars

BarcelonaShe is 85 years old and lives alone in an apartment in Horta-Guinardó, Barcelona. She has no children and was widowed a few years ago. She maintains contact with some relatives, but it is more distant than in person because they live abroad. She has mobility issues and six years ago decided to look for a caregiver to help her. An acquaintance recommended a woman, and she ended up hiring her. Over time, the caregiver was assisted by her sister, and they both worked in the woman's home. Where one couldn't reach, the other would.

"They gained her trust," says Sergeant Joan Pere Garcia, head of the investigation unit of the Mossos d'Horta-Guinardó police. In 2022, the woman decided to give one of them powers of attorney so she could carry out banking transactions. From that moment on, the caregiver had access to the woman's cards, accounts, and the power to sign documents on her behalf. At that moment, a long scam began, lasting three years and leaving the elderly woman with no savings. "They took advantage of her, gradually draining her account," the sergeant explains.

In three years, they swindled 524,000 euros. They did it by withdrawing cash. Up to 3,000 euros in a single transaction. And what did they do? They sent part of the money abroad, to her country of origin. The recipients, everything points to relatives—the police are still investigating—but also to their own accounts in South America.

Standard of Living

The standard of living in Catalonia also rose: €50,000 was spent in beauty clinics. Watches, clothes, handbags, and €150 perfumes were also purchased, and there are still bills to be reviewed. Withdrawals have been constant over these three years. Each caregiver lived in an apartment with a family unit that also benefited from the scam. Even when they had already emptied all of the woman's savings, they continued to scam her. Just as she was due to collect her pension, they emptied the account, and again, she was left with nothing. Furthermore, they installed security cameras in the elderly woman's apartment to monitor her—to know when she went out shopping, for example, and could tell she had no money.

The victim realized this in June. She went to her bank to check how much money she had in her account and was shocked: it was at zero. With the help of a relative, the woman decided to speak to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), who opened an investigation that resulted in her two caregivers, sisters aged 44 and 49, being arrested for defrauding her of more than half a million euros. They were arrested on July 23 and had no prior criminal record. They are now accused of embezzlement and document forgery.