When Esther James-Liverpool flew to Bermuda in December 2005 to see her Uncle George she found "a very sad and solemn old man" — nothing like the person she had known and loved for decades. The once proud ship's captain, born in 1908, had been reduced to a shadow of his former self after falling under the "total control" of a middle-aged woman who was supposed to be giving him the care he needed in his twilight years.

Gaynette Holder had presented herself as a good Christian and a family-orientated mother when she was interviewed by Mrs. James-Liverpool, who lives in Memphis, Tennessee, to care for George Welch in his own home. But after being hired for the job she quickly seized control of Mr. Welch's finances, moved her family into his home and wove a web of lies to enable her to steal almost $16,000 in cash from him, as well as watches, cufflinks and tie pins over the course of about eight months.

Prosecutors say his life's fortune of more than $100,000 ebbed away while he was in her care. Elderly widower Mr. Welch, who turned 100 in October, was extremely independent for his age but his young relative Mrs. James-Liverpool — Mr. Welch and her grandfather were first cousins — noticed that his mental health was deteriorating when she visited the Island at the start of 2005.

"I was concerned that he was not eating the right meals and he was still trying to do his laundry," she told The Royal Gazette. "He was asking if I had seen his previously deceased wife. He was 97; I decided it was time to get somebody to help his needs."

She contacted the We Care home help agency who sent Holder, 47, of Pembroke, to be interviewed for the job.

"I thought she was a Christian woman, she made that clear," said Mrs. James-Liverpool. "I entrusted them [We Care] to care for Uncle George and I left. I would call and get reports that he's fine. He is very mild-mannered. He would say 'everything is okay' and he never once complained."

Mrs. James-Liverpool first suspected something was up when Mr. Welch said he would take care of his own bills rather than have her pay them.

"As always, he's very proud," she said. "When he said he can continue to pay his bills, I let him. I never expected this. I was a little naive not to expect that something of this magnitude could happen."

She received a telephone call in late 2005 from a worried family friend. That was enough to prompt Mrs. James-Liverpool to book an immediate flight to the Island.

"They had moved him from his two-bedroom apartment that he loved, where he had built a patio so he could see the ocean, into an apartment at the back of the house," she said. "I called him up and I asked him if everything was okay and he said 'fine, fine, fine'."

But the moment Mrs. James-Liverpool arrived at her uncle's home in St. George's, she knew the situation was far from fine.

"I found a very sad and solemn old man, which was not what Uncle George was like," she said. "He was in the driveway and Gaynette and her husband were both there. They were just waiting for me to arrive. I actually think she was on the extension when I was speaking to him on the phone."

The scene that followed was "not pretty", according to mother-of-three Mrs. James-Liverpool. "Gaynette was aggressive and she told me: 'Things have changed. I'm now power of attorney'. There was yelling on both sides. Of course, my emotions were through the roof."

The senior's relative acted promptly, hiring a lawyer to get Holder and her family out of Mr. Welch's home and calling in Police to investigate.

She said Holder had paid no rent after moving herself and her family into the apartment and drew up a bogus lease, complete with her uncle's signature cut and pasted from another document. She talked to her uncle's friends to find out why they hadn't realised anything was amiss.

"I came to realise that Gaynette had told them that I had stolen his money and that I was not a relative, I was a prostitute he met in a bar," said Mrs. James-Liverpool.

She said the friends tried to get power of attorney themselves but were thwarted by Holder, who convinced her uncle to say he did not want it to be changed or for them to visit. Mrs. James-Liverpool said she shudders to think of how her uncle's life was literally taken over by Holder in the space of a few months.

She believes Gaynette spun lies about her to her uncle — but they were not enough to break the bonds of love.

Mrs. James-Liverpool has nothing but praise for the Police, who escorted her when she threw Holder out of the home, watched the property to make sure she did not return and painstakingly went through Mr. Welch's bank accounts to uncover the theft of his money and belongings. Mr. Welch is now being well looked after in his home by a close family friend but his life savings are almost all gone, thanks to Holder.