She avoided a prison sentence by telling a court she had to care for her three children.
Ashar Bibi, described as wicked by a judge, convinced the elderly man to sign a blank cheque for the money before getting her husband to cash it, Wolverhampton
Crown Court heard.
She then hid it in a suitcase at home.
Her crime was discovered when the couple’s son noticed unusual activity in his father’s account.
Bibi’s employers ACRC Care in West Bromwich were alerted and they made their own inquiries.
The 42-year-old was confronted and admitted that she had asked the pensioner aged 90, to sign the blank cheque, the court heard.
The police searched her home and found the cash in a suitcase in a wardrobe.
Mr David Lees, prosecuting, said: “On September 11 the defendant was interviewed.
"She did admit the offence of theft.
"She claimed she had a debt to a loan shark.”
The court heard the couple would not have fully appreciated what they were being asked to do when they signed the cheque.
Bibi, of Turner Street, West Bromwich, had previously pleaded guilty to the one count of theft.
Mr Jonathan Barker, defending, told the court that the account Bibi gave in interview was not accurate, and she had not told the police the role of her estranged husband.
He said: “In March and going into April her estranged husband was making repeated requests of her to raise money as he was in debt.
"She successfully resisted his demands but it reached a point where the husband was making reference to loan sharks and through a misguided sense of loyalty, as he is the father of her three children, she gave in.”
Mr Barker said the cheque was signed by the complainant in April, and she resisted handing it over to her husband until the September. He said: “The minute it was discovered
she told her estranged husband to return the money promptly, and that was why the cash was found in her premises.”
He added: “She feels very remorseful.”
Judge Nicholas Webb told Bibi: “It was a wicked offence, where the victims are very elderly and vulnerable people, 80 and 90
years old, both were suffering from dementia and you were in part responsible for looking after them.”
Judge Webb sentenced Bibi to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years. She was also given 150 hours of unpaid work.
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