An aged care worker has pleaded not guilty to stealing over $16,000 from a vulnerable woman who she was employed to look after.
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Joanne Whyte, 52, has been charged by police with one count of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Police allege that the Barrack Heights woman made 130 bank transfers from her client to her personal account.
The transactions allegedly stretched over a five year period from 2018 to the end of 2022 and resulted in $16,547 leaving the woman's account.
The woman who was Whyte's client is under the financial management of the NSW Trustee and Guardian, a government body that can be appointed by a court or tribunal to make financial decisions for someone who's ability to do so is impaired.
Whyte, represented by her lawyer Michael Sinadinovic, entered a plea of not guilty in Port Kembla Local Court today, where she was supported by her husband.
A date was set for a one-day hearing in July.
Registrar Peter Ritchie continued Whyte's bail, which requires that she report to Lake Illawarra police station three times a week.
Whyte's bail conditions also prohibit her from entering any licensed premises with gaming facilities, including Oak Flats Bowling Club and not to go near clients of Australian Unity, Pearl Home Care or any other people she may have met through her work in the aged care and disability sector.
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