A carer who fell victim to an online scam has admitted stealing a total of €122,000 in cash from an elderly couple during the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Breaking News.
The Dublin County Court heard that Angela Manning, 59, of Kingston Walk, Ballinteer, Dublin 22, pleaded guilty to seven illustrative counts of stealing money from an elderly couple through ATM withdrawals in Dublin between April 2019 and September 2021.
She has no previous convictions.
Garda Detective Gavin Higgins told lawyer Aideen Collard, BL that Laetitia Lynam and Enda O’Regan were married and that Manning was initially hired as a caretaker by the agency, but was later hired personally by the couple.
Det Gda Higgins said Mr O’Regan, who is 80, lives in a care home and suffers from dementia. His wife, Ms. Lynam, has been self-isolating during the Covid pandemic due to an underlying condition.
Manning called her every day at home, and Ms. Lynam was given an ATM card and PIN so she could buy food, the court said.
The court heard that in September 2021, Ms. Lynam sent Manning to ask for her ATM card back because she was trying to buy something online but the payment had not gone through.
The next day, Manning came to Ms. Lynam’s house and said, “I want to tell you something, I have done something on you. You are going to be very angry with me, I have taken all your money.”
The court heard Ms Lynam initially laughed and thought it was a joke, but Manning said: “I have bled you dry; there is nothing left”, reports Breaking News.
Ms Lynam asked, “Have you taken all my money?” to which Manning replied, “Yes, there is only €7 left”, reports Breaking News.
Manning had withdrawn more than €122,000 from the couple’s joint account, the court heard.
Manning told Ms. Lynam that she met the man on Facebook and fell in love with him. The man said his name was “Sam” and he was a US Army soldier.
Ms Lynam contacted the Gardaí that afternoon and an investigation was launched. Gardaí obtained surveillance video of Manning withdrawing cash from an ATM, reports Breaking News.
During questioning, Manning told gardaí that she would withdraw cash and go to a store on Talbot Street where she would deposit cash into an undetected bitcoin online wallet using an ATM.
The court heard for some time that Manning had stopped depositing money into the Bitcoin account after her brother found out and told her it was a “scam”.
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