Tracy Leah Salmon: Carrington Care aged care worker jailed for defrauding $18k from elderly resident, co-worker

A carer at a prestigious southwest Sydney nursing home has been sentenced for racking up $18,000 on a credit card stolen from an 89-year-old woman under her care.

Carrington Care aged care worker Tracey Leah Salmon, stole a vulnerable woman’s credit card shortly after discovering she had no power-of-attorney. Picture: Facebook

A carer at a prestigious Grasmere nursing home has been jailed for racking up $18,000 on a credit card stolen from an 89-year-old woman under her care.

In February, Carrington Care aged care worker Tracy Leah Salmon, 47, pleaded guilty to a litany of charges at Campbelltown Local Court including 41 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage, two counts of larceny and 16 counts of driving while disqualified.

According to agreed facts tendered to the court, Salmon was placed in a position of trust while employed at Carrington, which included caring for a vulnerable wheelchair-bound 89-year-old woman who had been discharged from hospital directly to the nursing home.

Last week, the court heard Salmon stole the elderly woman’s credit card from her purse in her room shortly after discovering she had no power-of-attorney when speaking to her about her lack of family and next-of-kin while “assisting her with paperwork”.

The Campbelltown woman made more than 311 transactions between September and October, splurging on creature comforts including jewellery, amusement park rides, arcade games, sweets, fast food, cigarettes and alcohol.

Fraudster Tracy Salmon is serving time in jail for her crimes. Picture: Facebook

The court heard Salmon used “tap and go” for each of the purchases, strategically keeping the transactions under $100 to avoid the need for a PIN and at times splitting larger purchases into multiple sub-transactions.

At one point in just 24 hours, Salmon spent more than $250 at McDonald’s alone, along with multiple purchases at lolly shops, tobacconists and bottle shops. She also used the stolen card to pay for an ear piercing and purchase jewellery and handbags across several shops in the Campbelltown and Liverpool areas.

A magistrate said Salmon was motivated by greed, not need. Picture: Facebook

In the agreed facts, police stated they captured more than 150 fraudulent transactions on CCTV, with Salmon often caught engaging in the fraud while wearing her Carrington Care uniform. Additionally, she provided her NSW photo ID card and filled out her personal details before getting pierced.

Court documents state Camden detectives arrested Salmon at the aged care residence about 6am on November 18 with her denying any knowledge of the credit card theft or fraudulent charges.

After police showed her CCTV stills of her using the credit card, Salmon claimed she had found it on the ground in the nursing home.

Police then searched her and located several items of interest including gift cards and paperwork linked to the fraudulent purchases. Salmon then changed her story again to say she had taken the card from a pile of paperwork belonging to the victim.

Salmon was sentenced at Campbelltown Local Court.

However, after she was transported to Narellan Police Station and put into custody, she made “full and frank admissions” to taking the victim’s card while caring for her.

The court heard she took responsibility for all the transactions and told police she disposed of the card after it declined when she tried to buy a kebab on October 31.

According to court documents, Salmon also committed similar offences against a co-worker at the nursing home in September 2024, stealing a credit card from her handbag she left in the nurses’ office.

She racked up a $560 bill in just four days, spending the money at Woolworths, Kmart, Chemist Warehouse, King of the Pack tobacco shop and Metro Petroleum.

Magistrate Peter Thompson said Salmon had told police she committed the crimes because “times were tough”, but he said it was “hard to accept this was a matter of need rather than greed”.

“The facts are frightening and concerning, they show a significant breach of trust,’’ Mr Thompson said.

“I need to reflect on those victims and the harm that came to them … there is no doubt this is a matter where there was … a significant breach of trust given the vulnerability of (the 89-year-old woman) and taking advantage of a co-worker.”

Salmon also pleaded guilty to 16 driving while disqualified offences, including being caught three times on the same night by police at McDonald’s in Campbelltown.

Mr Thompson noted Salmon’s history of drug issues and addiction to ice, which she paid for in exchange for gift cards she bought with the stolen credit cards; as well as her remorse and early guilty plea into consideration.

She was sentenced to 18 months behind bars with a non-parole period of nine months. With time served, she will be eligible for parole on August 17.