A 35-year-old London, Ont., woman sought by city police for allegedly defrauding and stealing from elderly residents while posing as a personal support worker (PSW) has been taken into custody, authorities said Wednesday.
Police issued an arrest warrant for the accused on Nov. 19 stemming from incidents that occurred between June 1 and Nov. 5.
It’s been alleged the accused gained access to the apartments throughout the city by posing as a cleaner or PSW. Once inside, police allege the accused took credit and debit cards from the homes, along with cash.
“The debit and credit cards were used at various locations, and in viewing video surveillance, London police officers were able to identify the suspect in each of the cases,” police said last month.
Amanda Lee Rose Albert, 35, was charged by way of arrest warrant on Nov. 19 with at least 21 counts, including three of break and enter and theft, four of fraud under $5,000, four of use of credit card, and four of failure to comply with a release order.
Police said Albert was arrested on Tuesday in relation to the charges, and remained in custody as of Wednesday. She has a court date for Thursday, police said.
It wasn’t the first time Albert had been sought by police in relation to such incidents.
Previous charges against Albert for defrauding elderly Londoners while pretending to be a personal support worker date back at least four years.
Albert was charged in June 2018 after police alleged she posed as a PSW, accessed two units of a seniors-only apartment building on Oxford Street West, and withdrew money using the residents’ credit cards.
More than a month earlier, Albert was charged after police alleged she had posed as a PSW, gained access to apartments in a seniors-only home, took residents to the bank under the guise of helping them, and then kept the money that was withdrawn.
Albert was sentenced to three months in jail and two years probation in January 2019 after being found guilty of breach of probation and theft under $5,000 in the Oxford Street West incident, and fraud over $5,000 in the other incident, court documents show. All other charges were withdrawn.
Albert and a man were also charged with several fraud and theft-related counts involving seniors in September 2016 after a string of incidents between December 2015 and August 2016. It’s unclear how these charges resolved.
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