A Sydney woman, accused of stealing her elderly parents’ money to fund her lifestyle while neglecting their welfare, has faced court.
Renee Prendergast is facing dozens of charges, and denies stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her parents’ bank account.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Woman accused of starving her elderly parents faces court.
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Prendergast’s sick elderly parents Julie and Josef moved into her Western Sydney home in 2018, and Prendergast was given power of attorney.
Her parents had more than $500,000 in their bank account, of which NSW Police allege Prendergast spent half, over four weeks.
“To me it looks like you’ve just waited for that money to go in,” police said to Prendergast during her police interview.
“And then you’ve gone bang.”
Prendergast was spotted on CCTV, buying drinks and playing the pokies at Wests Campbelltown and the Ruse Tavern — allegedly using her parents’ money.
The Sydney woman denied having a gambling problem in her police interview.
She claims she and her mother regularly “helped each other” with finances, and that her mother approved the transfer of $100,000 for a new pool.
“That’s what mum and I did, like, we helped each other,” she said.
“You certainly helped yourself,” an officer told her at the time. “There’s no doubt about that.”
The court was told Prendergast’s parents were allegedly left unmedicated, unfed and unwashed while she spent their money.
“The patients were soaked in their own urine to the extent the urine was going through the sheets into their beds,” an officer said during her police interview.
“They were conveyed to hospital and your mother has said: ‘I don’t want to go back there’.”
Prendergast was away on holiday when officers carried out a welfare check on her parents.
The couple’s bank account was frozen at this point.
Prendergast will return to court in the coming weeks.
– With Leonie Ryan