Syrian Care Worker Drained 80-Year-Old's Account - Walks Free

SUNDSVALL - A 26-year-old Syrian care worker who used an 80-year-old resident's bank login to move more than 233,000 kronor out of her account during a night shift has been convicted of aggravated fraud. He will not go to prison.

Sundsvall District Court found that the crime carried a penalty value of six months behind bars. It still settled on a suspended sentence and a fine.

One Man on Duty, One Elderly Victim

Umran Mohammed Barakat was working nights at a municipal care home in Sundsvall, in northern Sweden, when the money disappeared. Funds were first shuffled between the woman's own accounts, then three card payments went out through MamoPay, a payment service based in Dubai. The total came to 233,212 kronor, roughly 21,000 US dollars.

Staff logs showed Barakat was the only employee on the ward that night and the only person caring for the woman. Questioned by police, he admitted taking her phone and signing with her BankID, the digital ID Swedes use to approve bank transactions.

He claimed he had sent her card details to someone abroad who made the purchases, while he approved them with her ID. According to his own account, the plan was to route the money back to himself to pay off loans in Sweden, using the international payments to hide where it came from. He also told police his family was building a house and a market in Syria and that he had sent money there before.

Chest Pains the Next Day

The woman's daughter told police her mother barely slept the night of the fraud. The next day she developed chest pains and was taken to hospital.

The municipality has since fired Barakat.

"Ruthless" - But No Prison

The court was blunt about the crime. Because of the victim's age, his position as her carer and the fact that he struck at night while she slept, he had ruthlessly exploited her defenceless position, the judgment says. That is what made it aggravated fraud.

Then came the sentence. The court said the offence was not of a kind that creates a presumption of prison, and that neither the penalty value nor his criminal record called for it. Barakat was given a suspended sentence combined with 100 day-fines of 220 kronor, 22,000 kronor in total.

He must repay the full 233,212 kronor to Swedbank. Nothing in the ruling touches on deportation. The verdict was handed down on 23 October.