At a confiscation hearing at Maidstone Crown Court, 62-year-old Anna Bavenhielm was told to pay the compensation. Two sums amounting to £7,645 had already been recovered.
Bavenhielm, of no fixed address, worked as a live-in carer from March 2017. Between April and November that year, she made 66 separate withdrawals at cash machines with the victim’s bank cards, stealing a total of £21,646.
Officers found bank statements in her bedroom belonging to the victim, along with receipts from cash machines and life insurance documents.
She was arrested in November 2017 and was granted bail during the investigation but she ran away, before being arrested again in Exeter in October last year.
She pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court, where she was sentenced to 14 months in prison last December.
Bavenhielm told police that she was funding a scratchcard gambling habit. Her crime was discovered when a relative visited the bank with the victim.
Detective Inspector Annie Clayton of the Kent & Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: “This woman’s actions were simply deplorable and caused considerable upset to the victim and her family.
“Financial investigators identified a quantity of cash held in one of Bavenhielm’s bank accounts, and she now has 42 days to pay back the money or she will serve a further eight months in prison.”
She added: “My message is clear. Crime shouldn’t pay and we will use the legislation that is available to seize any cash or property that we can prove has been obtained through criminal behaviour.”
