A heartless daughter who pilfered her elderly mother’s £216,000 life savings to splurge on home luxuries and spoil her two pet dogs has been instructed to repay a mere £4,000.
Luana Dougherty, 50, a care worker, took advantage of her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease to install a banking app on her mobile phone, granting her access to her mother’s account. She then proceeded to withdraw thousands of pounds at a time.
In a shocking four-day spree, the deceitful mother-of-three transferred £20,000 daily into her own account, as easily as if she was “taking candy from a baby.”
Dougherty’s scheme was exposed when she boasted to her son about planning to place a £60,000 deposit on a house, prompting other family members to investigate with her victim’s bank.
It was revealed that Dougherty had lavished ‘thousands’ on her Staffordshire Bull Terrier-type dogs, furniture, and establishing a dog breeding business. Photos on Facebook also depicted her enjoying a holiday in India with a male friend.
She had previously received a £125,000 portion of her mother’s wealth from the sale of their £370,000 family home after promising to care for her. However, by the time the thefts were uncovered, only £10,000 remained in her mother’s account.
She was subsequently ordered to sell her second-hand car.
Dougherty was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position in September, and last Friday, she appeared at Chester Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime hearing. The court learned that Dougherty had profited by £156,318.24, but her only asset was a second-hand Vauxhall Insignia.
The vehicle will be sold off and the proceeds seized. If the car does not fetch the expected £4,000, the court will reconvene to settle on a lower figure.
Dougherty, hailing from Acre Road, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port, had already returned £80,000 of her ill-gotten gains, according to the court’s information.
Previously, Dougherty’s sister Sandra Clayton provided a statement to the police, revealing their mother, who is in her 80s, was “anxious and distressed” upon learning of her daughter’s deceit.
She stated: “When mum sold up because she was unable to look after herself we agreed that Luana would look after her as she had worked in the care sector for people with dementia.
“She had already received her share of £125,000 whilst the remaining money would be held in mum’s bank account. But Luana was amassing that money selfishly for herself. We now feel so foolish that we trusted her.
“In fact she started accessing the money almost immediately. She had told us repeatedly that our mother was attending medical appointments. But in the 18 months she lived with her she received no doctors’ appointments or diagnosis.”
The financial strain of caring for an elderly relative was laid bare as one individual lamented, “My mother’s money would have provided the best possible care for her. But the financial impact has meant we had no choice in a type of care home she would move into.”
They continued to express their reliance on local authorities, stating, “We are reliant on the local authority council to choose that place for her and top up £100 a week for mum’s care.”
Mrs Clayton also disclosed her disappointment with a certain Luana: “Luana has not asked how she is, where she lives, or offered to pay any money. We have not received any money from her.”
She further accused Luana of indifference and exploitation: “She had showed no care or concern and had used her for what she could get out of her. She had no regard for the consequences, leaving us to pick up the pieces.”
It is reported that the bank has compensated the victim with a sum of money.
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