Fraudulent Power of Attorney

kipsterno1

Seems like a straight forward fraud to me.

False instrument

Section 1 Forgery Act 1981 states: A person is guilty of forgery if he makes a false instrument, with the intention that he or another shall use it to induce somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person's prejudice.”

You even have a witness that can give evidence of the act and there is a straightforward trail of the cash being transferred. I would re contact the police at a higher level to have their action/response so far reviewed.

Malthusian

HampshireH said:

I cannot see how this is a civil matter when it equates to theft. Or obtaining funds by deception 

If that were solely a civil issue no one would ever be prosecuted for fraud, theft etc

The OP and her mother have no confidence that a civil suit would succeed, and those are easier than criminal cases (you only have to prove on the balance of probabilities rather than beyond reasonable doubt).

And the victim isn't willing to testify.

Once you digest those two facts it's easy to see why the police aren't interested. Most frauds and thefts in this country are never prosecuted.

The OP and her mother need to arrange a new POA as soon as possible. As the FOS avenue has been exhausted, if they aren't willing between them to take legal advice and pursue recovery from the thieves (which could be throwing good money after bad anyway, depending on whether the thieves have any assets that could be recovered), it sounds like it's time to move on.

Savvy_Sue

suerowe53 said:

Jude57: I lodged a formal complaint with Lloyds in writing registered post and it took them four months to reply. Basically they said that the attorney can do what they want with the donors money once the POA is registered with them. The Financial Ombudsman say the bank has done nothing wrong. I have just been in touch with my MP and am awaiting his response. I have lodged an 'Abuse of Trust' with Action Fraud (police) but they say there is 'no line of enquiry to pursue'. The OPG seemed to have missed the point altogether as when I complained to them they wrote back to me to say while my mother has mental capacity she can do what she wants with her money! 

And there I thought the attorney had to act always and only in the best interests of the person they were acting for. What benefit has Mum had from this money the attorney withdrew? is the question I'd be asking ... 

badmemory

Savvy_Sue said:

And there I thought the attorney had to act always and only in the best interests of the person they were acting for. What benefit has Mum had from this money the attorney withdrew? is the question I'd be asking ... 

Spot on with this.  I know that when I was POA for my mother I was a lot more careful (& prompt) with what I did with her finances than I was with my own.  I also felt the need to notify my sister, who would have been next POA if I couldn't, of just about every action I took.  I do hope you find some means of redress.

GaleSF63

[Deleted User] said:

Thank you all so much in answering. I'm afraid I don't know how to reply to you all separately! So here goes...
74jax: We simply cannot go down the Civil Fraud court action as it is only the 'victim' who can prosecute and our mum is to frail to go to court to testify against a family member and solicitors cost £300 per hour
Keep_pedalling: The certificate provider was a family friend of the attorney who has since been on the phone to me crying and apologising as she didn't realise what she was signing!
HampshireH: I promise you this is factual. The family relative (my niece, my mother's granddaughter) will not answer any correspondence or tell any of us where the money is or how it's been spent
Jude57: I lodged a formal complaint with Lloyds in writing registered post and it took them four months to reply. Basically they said that the attorney can do what they want with the donors money once the POA is registered with them. The Financial Ombudsman say the bank has done nothing wrong. I have just been in touch with my MP and am awaiting his response. I have lodged an 'Abuse of Trust' with Action Fraud (police) but they say there is 'no line of enquiry to pursue'. The OPG seemed to have missed the point altogether as when I complained to them they wrote back to me to say while my mother has mental capacity she can do what she wants with her money! 

I think what the bank means is that once the attorney has been give power legally to control the donor's money they (the bank) have no say in how it's used and whether it is used properly is outwith their remit. 

Sea_Shell

[Deleted User] said:

Thank you all so much in answering. I'm afraid I don't know how to reply to you all separately! So here goes...
74jax: We simply cannot go down the Civil Fraud court action as it is only the 'victim' who can prosecute and our mum is to frail to go to court to testify against a family member and solicitors cost £300 per hour
Keep_pedalling: The certificate provider was a family friend of the attorney who has since been on the phone to me crying and apologising as she didn't realise what she was signing!
HampshireH: I promise you this is factual. The family relative (my niece, my mother's granddaughter) will not answer any correspondence or tell any of us where the money is or how it's been spent
Jude57: I lodged a formal complaint with Lloyds in writing registered post and it took them four months to reply. Basically they said that the attorney can do what they want with the donors money once the POA is registered with them. The Financial Ombudsman say the bank has done nothing wrong. I have just been in touch with my MP and am awaiting his response. I have lodged an 'Abuse of Trust' with Action Fraud (police) but they say there is 'no line of enquiry to pursue'. The OPG seemed to have missed the point altogether as when I complained to them they wrote back to me to say while my mother has mental capacity she can do what she wants with her money! 

BiB above...

Where are your niece's parents in all this?   Your brother or sister?    

Do you think your niece was the driving force here, or do you suspect her boyfriend of being the one to instigate all this?

[Deleted User]

kipsternol: Absolutely, I will pursue it with the police again but these days it is very hard to contact them directly as you have to go through the Action Fraud team first them they triage the complaint and then pass the report to the police and they either investigate further or tell you there is 'no line of enquiry' - as they've said in our case.
Malthusian: Depressing but probably the case...
Savvy_Sue: My mother didn't even know the money was gone and certainly has had no benefit from it  
Sea_Shell: The niece's was the driving force and her boyfriend and mother (my only sister) are complicit in this. My (only) brother is totally in support of me. 
The attorney hasn't even seen our mom in two months and quite apart from the attorney taking the thousands of pounds from mom's bank she did not perform any of the duties her role should entail as I paid over £1,000 for my father's cremation at Christmas, I paid his £1,300 nursing home fees & £400 pension over payments. And I've been 'keeping' mom since the money went missing in January as I managed to get the bank account frozen but that means mom cannot draw out any money so I am paying for mom's shopping, etc. (her direct debits have been honoured by the bank). Hopefully the revoke has gone through now and we can get access to mom's account. 

Manxman_in_exile

suerowe53 - forget Action Fraud - they are hopeless.

You need to make a formal complaint to the police using this procedure.  Make a complaint | Independent Office for Police Conduct  Just ringing up your local police and speaking to someone at random will get you nowhere.

I would also be tempted to write directly to your local Chief Constable and your local Police and Crime Commissioner*, briefly explaining what has happened, and asking them if they think it is appropriate that the local constabulary have told you that this is a civil matter and they will not investigate.  (Include sufficient detail for them to see that they've got this wrong - fraudulent completion of POA, witnesses now acknowledging they did not know what they were signing etc etc).

Mind you - if the police do decide to take action and investigate, do understand that you may be unleashing something outside your control.

*Police and crime commissioners - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


PS - I tend to agree with naedanger that the bank have not really done anything wrong here.  They are saying that if the OPG have issued the POA it is not for them to question it.  Your complaint about the POA needs to be aimed at the OPG.  To be honest, I'm astonished that a POA can be issued in these circumstances and that the OPG seem to be defending it.  Are you certain you know all the facts?

DaveL98

Contact the OPG, the Investigations team should assist as this appears to be a clear breach of the law and a blatantly fraudulent use of an LPA.

I can't post links yet (cheers Martin) but if you google 'OPG Investigation' it comes up as the second result, incidentally the first one is primarily aimed at those being investigated!

Keep_pedalling

One lesson to learn from this is to put your LPAs in place well before you become frail and vulnerable. Along with wills they are things that all adults should seriously consider putting in place.