Woman accused of stealing NIS 600,000 from blind 83-year-old Holocaust survivor
Indictment says 47-year-old Ashkelon resident took advantage of her position as the elderly man’s assistant
Prosecutors have charged an Ashkelon woman with stealing hundreds of thousands of shekels from a blind 83-year-old Holocaust survivor.
The suspect, identified Sunday as Anat Dayan, 47, was employed part-time in the elderly man’s home over the course of three years, helping him manage his finances, buy groceries, pay his medical caregiver, and the like.
According to the indictment, filed in the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court on Sunday, Dayan used her access to the man’s bank account and credit cards to steal NIS 623,100 ($180,000) over three years. She faces charges of theft, deceit, aggravated fraud and aggravated forgery.
She allegedly spent at least NIS 200,000 shekels ($59,000) of his money on purchases for herself at retail stores, including clothing, groceries and pet supplies. She also withdrew large sums of cash from his account for her personal use, prosecutors said.
The indictment also accuses Dayan of check fraud, explaining that she attempted to cover up her theft by faking her charge’s signature on at least 13 stolen checks in order to withdraw over NIS 73,000 ($21,000) from his bank account to pay the debt she had racked up on his credit cards.
The woman’s actions were discovered in November by the survivor’s son, who fired her and filed a police complaint. Prosecutors have asked for the woman to be remanded for the duration of the investigation and trial.
