A nurse who stole more than €8,500 from her 77-year-old employer has been sentenced to three years in jail. Rhoda Salunoy (36) is currently serving a six-month sentence for stealing €4,800 from St Michael’s House, Ballymun, Dublin, which cares for people with intellectual disabilities.
The court heard the Filipino woman had a gambling addiction which drove her need for cash. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a three-year sentence but suspended the final 16 months in light of her full admissions and early guilty plea.
Salunoy, Howth Hill Lodge, Thormanby Road, Howth, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to theft and using false instruments to steal from her elderly employer’s bank account between September 2nd and 24th, 2011.
The court heard she worked as a cleaner for the man and found his cheque book while cleaning the house. She forged his name on nine cheques totalling €8,531 which she made out to herself. Five cheques are still unaccounted for.
None of the money has been recovered.
The court heard Salunoy came to Ireland to work for a nursing agency. She worked with the Irish Wheelchair Association, Nurses on Call and St Michael’s House before her arrest.
She married an Irishman but they have since separated due to her gambling addiction.