Blind man in his 90s 'fleeced out of £188,000 savings by fraudster couple'
A scheming £8.50p-an-hour cleaner and her partner fleeced a blind former businessman in his 90s of £188,000 from his life savings to buy themselves a house, a jury was told.
Veronica Robinson and Robert Homer took control of the life and finances of the elderly Second World War sailor after she began working for him in 2013 and his savings fell by £250,000 in less than three years, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
She took him to the bank, trips that were allegedly referred to as the 'Bonny and Clyde' run, said Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting, who continued: "Slowly but surely, with the help of her co-accused, she isolated him from the network of friends and family because she wanted to exercise the necessary power to control his financial affairs.
"He became totally dependent on her and was almost besotted with her. She systematically abused her position of trust in a determined and well planned way, defrauding him out of hundreds of thousands of pounds."
Homer, the 61-year-old's partner, helped with the grooming of the twice married widower who was registered blind with a generative condition and reportedly suffered from dementia. His son and step-son both lived overseas but remained close to him, the court heard.
The children restricted the amount of money their father could withdraw from the bank, an arrangement which Robinson and 66-year-old Homer tried to overturn, it was alleged.
The latter also changed the locks on the man's Black Country home to keep out long-term friends with keys.
Robinson, who was known as Sue by her employer, persuaded him to sign a £188,000 cheque, allegedly written by her, from his life savings which was used to buy a house in Beecher Street, Halesowen for herself and her partner in January 2015, claimed Mr Jackson.
The man's anxious sons and Dudley Council urged the Court of Protection to intervene.
The prosecutor said: "This vulnerable man was easy prey for them to manipulate. They made him think he was dependent on them as they set about stripping him of his life savings."
Robinson, now from High Haden Road, Cradley Heath, denies fraud by abusing her position as a carer to make gain for herself and another between October 2013 and September 2015.
She further pleads not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by misleading the Court of Protection in Birmingham.
Homer, of the same address, denies two charges of fraud.
The trial continues.
