Australia woman dead for months as daughter spends cash

SYDNEY - An elderly Australian woman lay dead for months in her home undetected as her adult daughter, believed to be her primary carer, fraudulently accessed her bank accounts, police said Friday.

The body of the 83-year-old was found in the bedroom of her Sydney home a week ago, and a post-mortem suggested she had been dead for a number of months. Police made no comment on the cause of death.

Her 48-year-old daughter was not at the premises. On Thursday she was discovered at a hotel in central Sydney and arrested, police said.

"She was arrested and charged with failing to report a death and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception," they said in a statement.

"Police will allege the woman had been fraudulently accessing and obtaining money from her deceased mother's bank accounts on a number of occasions."

Police said investigations were continuing.