Carer jailed over £50k bank fiddle

A nursing assistant from West Bromwich who allowed her bank account to be used as a haven for £50,000 stolen cash has been jailed for six months Kayon Hunter, aged 31, admitted possession of criminal property.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday she also admitted attempting to transfer criminal property, namely £4,000 cash.

Sati Aujla, prosecuting, said the victim had received an email indicating that her Abbey National account was overdrawn, but when she checked the balance, she found it to be in credit and thought nothing more of the matter.

She later contacted the bank when she was blocked from withdrawing money and was told £50,000 had been transferred into Hun-ter's TSB account.

When Hunter went into the West Bromwich branch to take out £4,000 cash, staff alerted police and she was arrested.

Samantha Powis, defending, said spam message which led to the identity theft was sent by a third party to whom Hunter had confided her financial problems.

"In effect, she provided a haven for the money," added Ms Powis.

Hunter, a student, worked in a West Bromwich care home to finance her studies.

In a letter of apology to the court Hunter, of Douglas Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, said that she had become the main breadwinner for her mother and siblings in Jamaica following the murder of her father in 2007.