Nigerian Imprisoned in UK Over £19,650 theft From Helpless Victims
A Nigerian administrator who oversees a care home in the UK was sentenced to prison for making unauthorized withdrawals from the savings of the facility’s most vulnerable patients.
The Evening Standard reports that 41-year-old Abiola Akinremi was sentenced to seven months in prison for robbing the Bostall House residents in southeast London of £19,650.
According to the media, the mother of three began stealing from patients when she needed money for child care and kept doing so to support her lifestyle.
Prior to the start of the trial, Mrs. Akinremi initially denied stealing money from the residents and later entered a plea of guilty to three counts of fraud by abuse of position.
She admitted taking £19,650 from three facility inmates over an eight-month period.
It was a “repeated and premeditated course of action, and a very severe breach of trust of vulnerable persons,” Judge Angela Rafferty KC told Mrs. Akinremi.
According to prosecutor Robert Levack, the facility is in charge of the patients’ financial concerns.
According to him, Bostall House is a 24-hour facility, and occupants are not permitted to leave without a member of the staff or a family member.
“The residents of the home are all at risk; they suffer from a range of disorders and are held in custody pursuant to the Mental Health Act or other laws. According to Mr. Levack, it is a care facility open 24/7.
The facility’s coworkers, the administrator maintained, were attempting to “put the blame” on her.
Ranjeet Dulay, the defense attorney for the defendant, pointed to evidence of money being taken from residents at times when Mrs. Akinremi was fired and asserted that “Ms. Akinremi is entirely responsible for her own conduct.”
According to Ms. Dulay, the administrator turned to fraud because she was depressed and needed money for child care.
The attorney stated, “It was initially an opportunistic offence, but she persisted in it farther.”
After being fired from Bostall House, Mrs. Akinremi worked at another care facility, and she has since been “trying to make amends and put into the type of community that she took from.”
A request for a suspended sentence was denied by the judge, who came to the conclusion that only an immediate stint in jail would be suitable.
