A Queensland nurse has been charged with fraud and stealing after she allegedly used the bank card of a hospital patient to treat herself to a spending spree.
Melelani Crelley, 42, allegedly racked up a $7,000 bill as she shopped around the Gold Coast while the elderly woman who owned the card lay in Robina Hospital and later Gold Coast University Hospital battling a serious illness.
The woman’s son from Mackay, Daren Kirby, noticed dozens of transactions at supermarkets, cafes and bakeries had been billed in April and May this year while his mother was stuck in bed and did some sleuthing.
Mr Kirby found one transaction for a Varsity Lakes hair salon and brought in police, reported The Gold Coast Bulletin.
Detectives found the salon customer used a second card to pay for part of the bill after the cost exceeded the tap-and-go limit on the first card.
Officers on Thursday swooped on Crelley’s Varsity Lakes home where they allegedly found the elderly woman’s purse and bank card.
Mr Kirby said when he first looked at his mother’s bank card bill he was ‘in disbelief’.
‘Then I decided to try and get to the bottom of it. I was like a dog with a bone and I didn’t want to let it go because I just can’t stand thieves,’ he said.
Melelani Crelley, 42, allegedly racked up a $7,000 bill on a bank card she pinched from a patient while they lay in hospital
The elderly woman was a patient at Robina Hospital and later Gold Coast University Hospital
Crelley has been charged with one count of stealing and one count of fraud.
Mr Kirby’s mother has since recovered from her bout with encephalitis, a condition involving swelling of the brain that can be life-threatening, and has been released from hospital.
Crelley was given police station bail to front court on August 9.
She moved to the Gold Coast from Sydney a decade ago when she graduated as a nurse.
It is unclear if she has been stood down pending the court appearance.
The police investigation remains ongoing.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Health for comment.
