fraud and the elderly

rosie_marc

Sorry I dont know if this is the right place to post but I wondered if anyone could answer something for me, my husbands nan has been diagnosed with vascular dementia so how uncle recently became power of attorney for her and has been sorting through her finances now for the last 10 or a bit more years she has had this guy living with her his was a friend of her sisters and he is similar age to her but maybe a but younger (70's) anyway these past 10 years he has served a purpose fixing things around the house,shopping taking her place and appointments as he drives however it now transpires that over the last 10 years he has also scammed her out of nearly £20,000 he has now left her property after the threat of police was mentioned however my husbands family aren't calling the police as they say there is no point she allowed him to draw money from her account and she knew all her details obviously she can't remember every transaction but the most recent one she asked him to take £40 to pay water bill and the transaction shows he dree out £240 surely it's still fraud and regardless of wether or not she gave him access the police must be able to do something look at all his accounts etc??? Anyway just thought I'd ask her so if someone has a good reply I can show my mother in law and insist they go to the police. Thanks in advance

HappyMJ

10 years £20,000 is £2,000 per year.

That could be considered payment for driving her around and fixing things. Whilst many of us would do that for free maybe there was an agreement that she would help him out with the expense of owning a car. He is in his 70's too and at a guess is living on a pension. He may have needed that money to afford to keep the car on the road.

Just saying...

rosie_marc

That is a point however even if you discount the money he has been drawing out without permission he has also meant to be paying her £400 a month for rent which has not happened. For many years

ariba10

A live in boyfriend perhaps?

I take it that she did not have Dementia when he moved in?

greenglide

But can you prove any of this?

It is one thing to say "he has also meant to be paying her £400 a month" and another to prove that he was "meant to" and that he didnt. If he paid in cash or other things were taken into account there wouldnt necessarily be an audit trail.

Surely she would need to give her side but with alzheimers that would be difficult and presumably she couldnt give reliable evidence to a court. From my experience people with this condition are very easily confused.

Malthusian

OP, I suspect this board will tend towards healthy scepticism and if you're looking for a more sympathetic ear you may prefer Marriage, Relationships and Families.

My own instinct is with the previous posts and your husband's family. For most of the past ten years she presumably didn't have dementia, she was a grown adult and could make her own decisions. I won't say that there's no crime here, but you face an uphill battle to prove that she didn't freely give him this money of her own volition. Letting him off the rent is not a crime either.

If I'd had a live-in girlfriend for ten years who ran the household for me, and someone told me she'd taken £2,000 a year out of my account, I wouldn't consider that out of the ordinary.

Can you be certain that the £240 he drew wasn't for the water bill and other household expenses?

Keep_pedalling

You can't possibly know what financial relationship she had with him. If there was any scamming taking place, you can't prove it, and I'm sure she would not want the man who has provided companionship, and practical help over the last 10 years to be dragged over the coals for this.

Let it go.

Mojisola

rosie_marc wrote: »

she has had this guy living with her his was a friend of her sisters and he is similar age to her but maybe a but younger (70's) anyway these past 10 years he has served a purpose fixing things around the house,shopping taking her place and appointments as he drives however it now transpires that over the last 10 years he has also scammed her out of nearly £20,000

he has now left her property after the threat of police was mentioned

I'd have walked out as well if my housemate's family had suddenly appeared accusing me of 'scamming' my friend when they'd been quite happy for me to spend the last ten years caring for her!

Just think how much money it would have cost for the Nan to have paid carers to do all the things he's done over the last ten years. If any of the family were that concerned about Nan's welfare, where have they all been for those years? Or are they just worried about inheriting less money than they though they'd get?

jamesd

There are two somewhat related issues:

1. her.
2. his other current and future victims.

Not taking actions fails to protect the others, it's not just about her.

The small claims process has an upper limit of £10,000 and unless he can prove he paid the rent he's going to lose that case. The time limit is six years worth so it'll potentially get at least some of what she's entitled to.

Social services and police should be informed. Both take instances of abuse of vulnerable people seriously.

Mojisola

rosie_marc wrote: »

That is a point however even if you discount the money he has been drawing out without permission he has also meant to be paying her £400 a month for rent which has not happened. For many years

And how do you know that Nan didn't agree that he should stop paying this?

If he hasn't been paying for many years and she was unhappy about it, don't you think she would have talked to someone in the family about it?

Keep_pedalling

HappyMJ wrote: »

10 years £20,000 is £2,000 per year.

That could be considered payment for driving her around and fixing things. Whilst many of us would do that for free maybe there was an agreement that she would help him out with the expense of owning a car. He is in his 70's too and at a guess is living on a pension. He may have needed that money to afford to keep the car on the road.

Just saying...

jamesd wrote: »

There are two somewhat related issues:


1. her.
2. his other current and future victims.

Not taking actions fails to protect the others, it's not just about her.

The small claims process has an upper limit of £10,000 and unless he can prove he paid the rent he's going to lose that case. The time limit is six years worth so it'll potentially get at least some of what she's entitled to.

Social services and police should be informed. Both take instances of abuse of vulnerable people seriously.

They have been cohabiting for 10 years, he was not a lodger, so not paying rent proves nothing. Con merchants don't hang around for that long to steel such a relatively small sum of money?

We don't know the relative wealth of these 2 people, if he had very little income, she may very well have been happy to exchange his companionship and help for accommodation and pocket money.