A homecare employee from Hedensted council near Vejle was reported to police today for stealing nearly 600,000 kroner from two families she was supposed to be helping. The money disappeared from bank accounts belonging to the victims. The suspected thief had access to the accounts.

"We suspect that a council employee who had access to accounts belonging to disadvantaged families has committed fraud," the mayor of Hedensted,Kirsten Terkilsen, told Jyllands-Posten. 

Terkilsen said that financial irregularities were discovered in mid-August. The employee was fired a month later and was reported to police yesterday morning.

A careful investigation
“We have been criticised for taking so long to investigate the matter, but it is a complicated procedure,” said Terkilsen. “We have had to investigate the suspect and look at the families with whom she has had contact.”

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Terkilsen said that the council has followed standard procedures while investigating the case, including offering the employee a chance to tell her side of the story.

“We have not heard from her," the mayor said.