The cousin of an elderly man allegedly swindled out of thousands of dollars called him a frugal man who would not have spent the money on the luxurious upkeep of a virtual stranger.

Esther James of Memphis Tennessee, told Magistrates' Court her cousin George Welch would not have spent his life savings on New York hotels, restaurants, jewellery, furniture and veterinarian payments.

She said her 101-year-old cousin owned no pets and only ate out rarely the Black Horse in St. David's was an infrequent treat.

Mr. Welch's caregiver Gaynette Holder has been charged with stealing almost $32,000 from him in 2005 after gaining his power of attorney.

Hired when he was 98, she is accused of using Mr. Welch's life savings to buy furniture, pay her own bills and stay in luxurious New York hotels.

"He was very frugal," Mrs. James said yesterday. "He lived a modest life. He would drive a car until it died.

"He wasn't the type of person who would buy new furniture every year. He believed a penny well earned is a penny well spent.

"He could have spent a lot of money, but his only pleasure was travelling."

Mrs. James hired Holder in 2005 after visiting Mr. Welch and noticing that he hadn't been paying his bills and appeared to be having short-term memory problems.

He was later diagnosed as having the early stages of dementia.

Mrs. James returned to her home in Tennessee until she received a phone call in November 2005 that concerned her.

While she could not discuss what was said in the phone call yesterday in court, she said it caused her to return to the Island that December.

It was then she found that Mr. Welch had been moved to the smaller, downstairs apartment while Holder and her family were living in the one above.

"I was upset and saddened for him because it's not where I knew he wanted to live," Mrs. James said. "I knew that he wanted to live upstairs."

Mrs. James said that the upper apartment had new furniture including three televisions, while Mr. Welch's downstairs apartment contained his old furniture.

Holder had also gained power of attorney previously that control had been held by Mrs. James.

Yesterday Crown counsel Larissa Burgess presented Mrs. James with 18 cheques made out to various restaurants totalling more than $1,000.

Cheques had also been made out to veterinarian Endsmeet Animal Hospital and local pet store Noah's Ark.

Thousands of dollars of furniture was also bought using Mr. Welch's account, as was jewellery and there were utilities payments for two separate accounts.

Other cheques were made out to Holder's husband.

In bank statements, Holder credited him for doing work around the property, while others were made to cash.

Thousands of dollars more were spent on painting, plumbing and electrical work on Mr. Welch's St. George's home.

Mrs. James said that she did not give permission for any of the expenses.

Based on Mr. Welch's gold card statement, more than $7,000 was spent on New York hotels in August of 2005.

In addition, four plane tickets were bought for travel to New York and nearly $1,000 of purchases were made from New York retailer Men's Warehouse.

While Mrs. Jones said Holder told her that Mr. Welch was flown to New York to get a pacemaker put in, she said she could not tell if Mr. Welch actually went on the trip.

She also said that Mr. Welch would not shop at Men's Warehouse as the store did not carry his favourite brand.

"He only wore Dockers," she said. "They only carry knock-offs there."

Holder, represented in court by Mark Daniels, has previously admitted to using Mr. Welch's account to make purchases and pay bill.

She has insisted that all of the purchases were made with Mr. Welch's verbal permission.

Magistrate Graveney Bannister adjourned the trial to continue today.