LCSO: Caregiver steals $20K from Alzheimer’s patient

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BOKEELIA, Fla.- Lee County detectives say a Southwest Florida caretaker stole more than $20,000 from an Alzheimer’s patient she was trusted to look after.

Dagmar Burke allegedly posed as the 91-year-old man’s wife at a Wells Fargo back in Bokeelia, making 67 withdrawals, each of them for $300.

Deputies say the bank’s manager was alerted to a suspicious statement back in July. The manager then noticed the $300 withdrawals regularly coming out of the victim’s account, so she called deputies.

Authorities identified Burke through surveillance photos taken from the ATM. When officials confronted Burke, she said she was sick. She finally agreed to talk to detectives on Oct. 6, but was reported missing by her son the same day. Burke was found three days later.

She was employed by a caregiver service for nearly two years, including part of the time when the alleged crimes occurred, between March and May 2015.

WINK News received a statement from the company, saying:

“We conduct rigorous third-party background checks, as well as personal and professional reference checks. These were all completed in this instance and we did not find any history of inappropriate behavior.”

The company also says they have extensive measures in places to prevent this kind of activity.

Burke’s son says he had no idea any of this was going on. Burke is currently in the Lee County Jail.

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