Caregiver in her 70s gets suspended sentence for stealing W20m from dementia patient in her care

A caregiver in her 70s who stole money from an elderly dementia patient in her care has received a suspended prison sentence.

The Cheongju District Court's Criminal Division 1, presided over by Judge Park Gwang-min, sentenced the live-in caregiver, identified only as A, to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, on charges of canceling the patient's fixed-term deposit and pocketing the proceeds, Yonhap reported Sunday.

A was indicted on charges of using the debit card of the dementia patient in her care, identified as B, to make 85 unauthorized transactions totaling about 20 million won ($14,100) between March and April 2024.

On the day A learned that B was scheduled to enter a nursing home, she took B to a bank, had B cancel a fixed-term deposit and obtained a debit card in B's name — which she then used to carry out the theft.

"The sentence was determined in consideration of the fact that the actual financial damage was relatively limited and that the defendant has no prior convictions of imprisonment with labor or heavier," the court said in its ruling.