Family Member - Unauthorised Withdrawals!

IWBI1965

A member of the family had authorisation to withdraw money for my grandmother on a weekly basis. However, it has come to light that she has been withdrawing additional monies every week, and my grandmother now has no money left in her account. We have stopped the card but not sure what to do next.

We were going to approach the bank, but as she had authorisation to use the card not sure if there is much they can do?

Or should we go straight to the police?

We are not talking about a few pounds going missing, we are talking about several thousand pounds!

Any help would be appreciated.

glider3560

Was this a formal authorisation with the bank or simply your grandmother telling the relative her PIN then going to the ATM?

zppp

Welcome to MSE and sorry to hear of your problems.

If said person had access to the account, they would either have to be a joint party or hold Power of Attorney. It depends on how they are added to the account.

If they are a joint party, there is no theft automatically, as they are authorised to use the account. You could let the police know, but they would probably be unable to help.

If they are a POA, it could be classed as theft, as POAs have to operate under certain rules when dealing with an account.

OP let us know which way it is, so we can give full advice.

IWBI1965

It was a case of grandmother giving family member PIN so that she could go to the bank every week and withdraw her £20. (Grandmother used to do herself over counter - but now not so agile and scared of ATM's so got relative in good faith to do for her!)

Family member was giving Grandmother £20 a week - but obviously has been taking the balance for herself!

SailorSam

I think i'd go to the police, if they'd only been given permission to withdraw £20, any extra must be theft.

spendingmad

OMG How awful! TBH I dont think the bank will/can do alot. I would go straight to the police or have a very harsh word with the relative if they are young and naive (no excuse though) and demand the money back.

IWBI1965

THANK YOU!

They are neither young or naive - and there is no way they would be able to pay back the thousands they have took!

Rest of family wanted to go to bank, but my gut reaction was that there would not be a lot the bank could do as Grandmother had given the card over. (hence posting on here)

Think you are right in that we have no option but to call in police!

glider3560

Putting emotions to one side, the bank won't be interested as your grandmother has broken the terms of her account by revealing the PIN.

However the police may be more interested, but it may be difficult to prove who actually used the card/benefited from the withdrawals.

For future, there are correct procedures that the bank can put in place (e.g. a third party authorisation).

olly300

The bank won't do anything as the PIN was given freely to the other individual.

If the bank was going to do something they would have already acted. I know of people who have been caught out by CCTV cameras over ATMs using another family members' card and the bank stopping the card.

It's a case of going to the police - which is unlikely to result in any of the money being paid back, or sorting out the matter privately with or without the law. For example you can get the family member to agree in writing to pay x amount per month back then if they go back on their written agreement getting it enforced in court.

You all need to decide if it's better for your grandmother to have a small amount of her money back while she is alive or none at all.

masonic

This is clearly a terrible thing for a relative to do, but I'm not sure how it would be treated by the police. The relative was granted access to the money and this could end up as a dispute over what they were entitled to take. Seems to me it might need to be resolved in the civil courts.

[Deleted User]

its a shame bank cannot do anything due to PIN given out but hopefully police can