Cleaner ordered partner to keep secret she did not pay for £188k Halesowen house, jury told
The partner of Veronica Robinson was sworn to secrecy when told her £188,000 house had been bought by the blind man in his 90s for whom she worked as a cleaner, a jury heard.
Robert Homer was informed by the 61-year-old shortly before she moved into the Beecher Street, Halesowen address with her teenage son in January 2015, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
The 66-year-old twice divorced security firm boss admitted while giving evidence: "I was a little bit surprised. I had expected it to be paid for out of her funds but, once I heard she was going to look after him for the rest of his life, I thought that was the kind of thing he might do."
Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting, has accused Homer of helping Robinson to gain control of the finances of the the dementia sufferer who experts ruled did not have the mental capacity to make a properly considered decision involving a large amount of money.
The court has heard that the cash withdrawals of the man - registered blind with a degenerative eye condition - increased more than threefold after Robinson started taking him to the bank.
Homer conceded that he also took him there a few times after Robinson 'freaked out' when police were called when she arrived at the branch with the man on May 13 2015.
He agreed that he told staff he was 'out of pocket' after spending money on the man, who had been restricted to withdrawals of £100-a-week because of concern about the amount being taken from his accounts. He withdrew £200 after fortnightly visits were agreed, it was said.
Homer added: "I knew less about his accounts than I knew about Veronica's and I knew nothing about them. It was not my business."
Mr Jackson maintained that £67,400 cash withdrawn in the 19 months Robinson worked for him until her arrest on March 27 2015 'could not be accounted for.' Much of this was with cheques written by her but signed by him, it was said.
The house was bought with money provided by him in a cheque paid into her account. She claimed it was a 'gift.' She agreed to hand it back to him and his family in February 2016, it was said.
Homer claimed he did not know that Robinson, who was living in rented accommodation at the time, was looking to buy a house until a short time before she moved in.
He declared: "She took me to have a look. She said I had to keep it secret but the man had paid for the house for her and she was going to look after him when he could not look after himself any longer. She explained it was his wish that nobody was told he had got it for her."
Homer helped her to move into the property which the man later told him while they were at the new address: 'I helped her get this for her and her son,' it was said.
Robinson, of High Haden Road, Cradley Heath, denies fraud by abuse of position and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Homer, of the same address, pleads not guilty to aiding and abetting the fraud and false representation. The case continues.
