Peninsula Caretaker Steals Up To $80K Of Elderly Aunt's Cash, Hides It In Her Home: Prosectors

An East Palo Alto woman was sentenced Friday to seven years and four months in prison after a court upheld a verdict in an elder abuse case against her, San Mateo County prosecutors said. Shirley Remmert, 70, received the sentence late Friday afternoon in San Mateo after a judge denied several motions she filed.

Remmert sought a new trial, to be released on her own recognizance and to declare the jury verdict rigged, among other things.

Remmert was living with and providing care for her 97-year-old aunt in her aunt's home when in February 2015 her aunt was diagnosed with a mild mental impairment. Prosecutors said Remmert was told of the condition and had her aunt sign a quitclaim deed, which is used to transfer ownership in a piece of property, in June 2015.

Remmert recorded the deed in January 2016. Prosecutors said Remmert started isolating her aunt from other family members, who got in touch with officials at the bank that her aunt uses and told them that Remmert may be abusing her aunt.

An investigation revealed that Remmert withdrew between $40,000 and $80,000 from her aunt's bank account and hid the money in the home without her aunt's knowledge or permission, according to prosecutors.

The victim also did not know she signed the quitclaim deed and thought she still owned the house that is worth between $500,000 and $1 million.

Prosecutors said the aunt thought the paperwork she signed was to guarantee that the house and her other assets would be divided evenly among family members when she died.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said of the sentence, "That's a very good sentence."

Remmert represented herself in court.

— By Bay City News Service / Image via Shutterstock