Stolen Inheritance

xylophone

Your father proceeds as indicated in previous posts?

Sea_Shell

Why wasn't this all reported to the authorities 3 years ago, when it all came to light?

I think you might struggle now, that so much time has passed, unfortunately.


As a separate, but connected question, how would any financial institution know that a registered POA had been revoked, if the original attorney is still passing the original document off as current.  Do they check them against a central database before allowing access to the "attorney"?

LHW99

It may be worth checking your dad's home insurance policy. Some have a legal helpline, who could provide some free initial advice. Occasionally there may actually be a legal add-on whereby the insurers will take on certain cases with costs paid for by the insurers. I don't know if this kind of issue would come under that, but its worth looking at the policy documents to see.

notjustamum

Sea_Shell said:

Why wasn't this all reported to the authorities 3 years ago, when it all came to light?

I think you might struggle now, that so much time has passed, unfortunately.


As a separate, but connected question, how would any financial institution know that a registered POA had been revoked, if the original attorney is still passing the original document off as current.  Do they check them against a central database before allowing access to the "attorney"?

It wasn’t reported to the authorities 3 years ago because Nan didn’t want to get her daughter into trouble with the police as it was promised that the monies would be returned to the account.  They never were. 

You have probably just answered my niggling conundrum as I couldn’t work out how Aunty had continued to access nans funds once the POA had been revoked

Sea_Shell

notjustamum said:

Sea_Shell said:

Why wasn't this all reported to the authorities 3 years ago, when it all came to light?

I think you might struggle now, that so much time has passed, unfortunately.


As a separate, but connected question, how would any financial institution know that a registered POA had been revoked, if the original attorney is still passing the original document off as current.  Do they check them against a central database before allowing access to the "attorney"?

It wasn’t reported to the authorities 3 years ago because Nan didn’t want to get her daughter into trouble with the police as it was promised that the monies would be returned to the account.  They never were. 

You have probably just answered my niggling conundrum as I couldn’t work out how Aunty had continued to access nans funds once the POA had been revoked

I can understand that.   However, your Nan was the victim here.   So I'm not sure how successful your Dad would now be in pursuing the matter as her executor (it is him isn't it?).

Think of it another way.    Would your Dad now be able to go after a company who may have scammed your Nan out of her life savings 3 years before she died?

Has he now reported the theft to the police?

As for the POA, as i understand it, they are checked by the institution that they are valid when they are first presented, but i have no idea if they are routinely "re-checked" to ensure they REMAIN valid.   If Aunt logged the POA with all the institutions in advance, then as far as they were aware, it was valid.   Including those last transactions.

Sadly it goes to show how the system is open to abuse, if you put your trust in the wrong person!!!     I think this goes on (on a greater or lesser scale) a lot more that we think.     How easy is it to add a few extra bits to "their" shopping, which make it into the Attorney cupboards at the donor's expense!!   Like your Aunt thought....easy money!!

bigadaj

Stealing hundreds of thousands isn't adding a few extra bits to the shopping though, it is theft. I'd certainly be pursuing this as far as possible.
Interestingly if you have to go down the court of protection route then the guardian has to take out insurance against their own liabilities, including theft, they or the estate have to pay and I believe premiums are over £1k a year, this would be a solution but would add another burden to a job that often goes unthanked. I discussed with my cousin, as she had poa for my aunt, that I thought an attorney should be able to claim a small fee as she had been moaned at by my father and her mother who were worried she might be fiddling things, though neither of the siblings were prepared to take on poa duties themselves.. 

Bravepants

This is theft...end of...call the police. I would not stand for this!

elsien

Bravepants said:

This is theft...end of...call the police. I would not stand for this!

The person it was allegedly stolen from is neither around to press charges, or to rebut any points the sister may make about having been gifted the money. Any prosecution has to have a reasonable chance of succeeding and to be in the public interest. It is unlikely to get that far. There was a thread on here some years ago where a family member stole his father's life savings. The father was still alive at that point, but the person was not prosecuted despite the posters best efforts to make the authorities act. It's really not as simple as "theft....end of."

John464

notjustamum said:

Dad immediately read the transactions listed on it to Nan and she was furious and said my Aunty had wrote cheques without her permission and asked dad to get everything off her 

Well if you can prove that you have got her.

Gadfium

Shocking behaviour!

Get it reported. The relevant authorities will decide if the case has merit, not us on here. Even if it goes nowhere the knowledge that it has been reported to the authorities might shift the alleged offender into repaying some of that money.

What about a civil action? Again, the threat of prosecution might get her to change position.