Carer too ill for her own fraud case (From The Oxford Times)

Carer too ill for her own fraud case

11:30am Monday 30th April 2012 in Banbury

A mental health carer accused of defrauding a vulnerable woman out of nearly £8,000 had her case adjourned after telling a court she was too ill to attend.

Mencap worker Denise Kiff contacted staff to say she would not be attending what should have been her first appearance.

The 40-year-old faces 18 charges of fraud by abuse of position for her actions against Maureen Baker, whose wellbeing had been placed in Kiff’s hands.

Prosecutors allege that the defendant took out a loan in the victim’s name and used the victim’s debit cards to withdraw cash and pay for goods.

Between December 29, 2009 and February 7, 2011, Kiff was said to have made 14 cash withdrawals, totalling £2,385.17, using Ms Baker’s debit card.

She is accused of withdrawing most of the money from banks in and around Banbury, as well as making two failed bids to withdraw £50 while in Dorset.

From November 15, 2010 to March 18, 2011, Kiff was also said to have used the same card to buy goods from a jewellers and a petrol station in Banbury and from Monsoon in Oxford – coming to a combined £142.42.

The main charge against married Kiff, of St Leonard’s Close, Banbury, is that between July, 2010, and October the same year, while as a support worker employed by Mencap, she fraudulently arranged a £5,000 loan in Maureen Baker’s name, which she paid to herself.

District Judge Tim Pattinson, sitting at Banbury Magistrates’ Court, adjourned the case to May 11 after Kiff told staff of her illness.