Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jocelynn Denay Banks, 39, was arrested yesterday and charged with exploitation of an elderly adult after allegedly using his ATM card to withdraw $9,000 from his bank account while she was caring for him.

A Gainesville Police Department responded to Harper’s Pointe Apartments, where a manager reported that the victim said Banks, who was serving as his caretaker, was stealing his money and he was scared of her.

The investigation reportedly showed that Banks had made nine separate $1,000 withdrawals with the victim’s ATM card on eight dates in November.

The officer reported that after he made contact with Banks, she spontaneously said she had withdrawn $1,000 twice on one date and once on another date; she said she withdrew the money to pay for her rental car, which she used to drive the victim on his errands. She said the victim was aware of the transactions and that he was fine with giving her money to pay for her rental car. She also reportedly said the victim was with her when she made the transactions.

Read Related Also: House Where Four University of Idaho Students Were Killed is Demolished

The victim reportedly told the officer that he never gave Banks permission to use his debit card and that they only went to the bank together a few times to pay small bills or handle other matters in small dollar amounts. He reportedly added that Banks was the only one who had recently driven him to the bank and the only one who had access to his debit card.

Post Miranda, Banks reportedly said she didn’t have a job and was helping take care of the victim because it was good money. She denied making any withdrawals from the victim’s bank account without his authorization. When the officer asked whether a review of video surveillance footage from the bank would show that the victim was with her during the transactions, she reportedly said he was not with her during the three transactions.

Banks has been charged with exploitation of an elderly person under $10,000. She has a juvenile criminal history between 1997 and 2002 and was sentenced to three years in federal prison, followed by five years of probation, after pleading to a charge of selling a controlled substance in 2003. She also has three misdemeanor convictions (none violent). Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $60,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.