A carer accused of swindling an elderly man out of his life savings said she did spend the money, but had the man's verbal permission to do so.

Gaynette Holder is accused of stealing almost $32,000 in 2005 from George Welch, after being hired to take care of the elderly man who was diagnosed with dementia.

Though she is formally accused of taking only $32,000 prosecutor Robert Welling told Magistrates' Court she spent much more on herself and her family.

Mr. Welch, who turns 101 next week, had amassed more than $100,000 in savings during his long career as a marine pilot.

>Holder, of Park Lane, Pembroke, has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of theft and Mr. Welling has alleged she left Mr. Welch with less than $20,000 within six months of taking over the power of attorney for his estate.

Holder was hired by Esther James-Liverpool, a woman referred to as Mr. Welch's niece, in February 2005 because she was concerned Mr. Welch could not fully take care of himself.

Originally she was hired in a part-time capacity but overtime their bond grew and she moved to a full-time position and took over the duties of power of attorney, the court heard.

>On Friday the court heard Police tapes of interviews with Holder when she acknowledged that after receiving power of attorney she moved Mr. Welch to a downstairs apartment and moved her family into his former apartment, where they lived rent free.

She also admitted that she spent thousands of dollars buying new furniture for the upstairs apartment while leaving Mr. Welch with his old furniture.

She agreed that she also bought herself jewellery and fish tanks as well as using his credit card for her personal interests, racking up $16,000 in debt [EmDash] many in cash advance transactions.

Holder also bought her son a telephone and gave him a $2,000 monetary gift all from Mr. Welch's bank account. Her husband was also paid for any yard work he did, and grocery and utility bills for both her family's apartment and Mr. Welch's apartment were paid by Mr. Welch, as were hotel bills in a lavish New York hotel, according to the tapes.

She also doubled her salary, for cleaning and preparing food for Mr. Welch, and hired someone else to clean Mr. Welch's apartment.

All this was done, she said, with his verbal permission and added that people were jealous of her.

During the interview Detective Constable Paul Ridley said:<\p>"I believe that you took advantage of him to a staggering proportion. You fleeced his account in a short amount of time.

"It staggers me that you do not seem to have any ounce of guilt or remorse. What possible benefit did he get from these things?"

But Holder said that was not the case. In the tapes she said:<\p>"It was not abuse, it was like family. I didn't take advantage of him. I got his permission from him and now his mind is poisoned by people."

Earlier in the day acting Magistrate Graveney Bannister heard another portion of the three-hour long Police tape where Holder described her relationship with Mr. Welch.

On the tape Holder said:<\p>"He told me I was like family, that he had no family and no one treated him as well as I<\p>did. He said 'I want you to take care of my business. There are a lot of people out there that are jealous you are caring for me. They ask me to get rid of you but I<\p>want you to go to the lawyer and take Ester [James-Liverpool] and Lydia [Foggo] off. I want them off and I<\p>want you on'.

"I never asked him to be his power of attorney."