Sibling stealing from my eldery father

Snowkittycat

Hi, just found evidence that one of my siblings have been stealing from my father. Using his bank cards and withdrawing large amounts of money without him knowing. My father had lost capacity recently due to a stroke.  I ve tried to talk to my other siblings but now they won't talk to me. The police have informed me that it is unlikely that the banks would have any atm footage as apparently they only keep the footage for 28 days.  Anybody else had this type of problem? 

elsien

If he has lost capacity and has not regained it then you need to let the bank know so they can put steps in place to protect his accounts, if you haven't done so already - you may need to evidence the lack of capacity via his GP or similar.   You can also raise a safeguarding with the local authority.   
Is there a power of attorney for finances?
If not then someone will need to apply to the court of protection for a deputyship - this is unfortunately not a quick process but if your father gets a state pension or any other benefits then you can apply to be his appointee in the interim which will keep some money coming in.
My experience is that these cases rarely get as far as prosecution.  

thegreenone

First port of call would be to talk to his bank.  They may not want to, if you do not have POA, but show them statements of the large sums of money being taken and when, explain the situation fully.  Hopefully, these withdrawals are totally out of character for your father (pre-stroke) and they can be monitored.  

Where is your father living?  Can you contact Social Services for advice?  Has your sibling been granted POA?  

Apologies, cross posted with elsien

elsien

thegreenone said:

First port of call would be to talk to his bank.  They may not want to, if you do not have POA, but show them statements of the large sums of money being taken and when, explain the situation fully.  Hopefully, these withdrawals are totally out of character for your father (pre-stroke) and they can be monitored.  

Where is your father living?  Can you contact Social Services for advice?  Has your sibling been granted POA?  Apparently, it's very easy to do.  If Sibling hasn't, you need to do so fast.

If dad has lost capacity around finances then there is a fair chance he may also lack capacity around agreeing a power of attorney.  
OP can check if there is anything in place here. 
Find out if someone has an attorney, deputy or guardian acting for them - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Snowkittycat

Thanks for the advice. There is a POA who is extremely concerned but he has  been informed that my sibling, the one who is believed to be stealing, has told lies to the OPG and  he has received a letter stating they are investigating him. He is awaiting the outcome of this, but for some reason the OPG will not tell him the nature of the complaint. Also he has only had the certified paperwork from the OPG for a month. I m sure my sibling has done this to try and stop anybody from finding out about the theft. The LPA has flagged it with the banks and all banks are now under his control which is a great relief. Thankfully the LPA for property and finance was submited to the OPG a few months before his stroke. I will contact Social Service in the morning as I am really fearful for my father as now I am not sure what lengths my sibling will go to. I ve managed to get him in to a lovely small care home and he is doing really well. Just so wrong that one of his own children stole from him. 

lisyloo

How did they withdraw large amounts of money without him knowing?
did they fraudulently order a new pin and steal the letter?
surely this is criminal theft?

if your dada gave his permission then it’s much more difficult.

can you elaborate?

Snowkittycat

My sibling was there when my father was taken in to hospital about 18 months ago and my father gave my sibling his wallet to look after, my father was poorly with a bad break in his leg so was in hospital for sometime. My sibling had easy access to his wallet and his house, my father kept all his pin number letters in his "safe" file. The money started disappearing just after he went in to hospital. When he came out my sibling gave back the wallet but I m sure  kept one of his cards (it's still missing), the card to his saving account. Sadly due to my father breaking his leg, when he did go home he wasn't as active so didn't go to the bank and didn't  have any access online. It only came to light recently when the POA spotted something strange and ordered up previous bank statements.  

lisyloo

Well you have evidence that the money was not taken by your dad if he was in hospital.
unfortunately he was negligent is writing down his pin.
I’d be expecting the attorney to ask the bank to take action if money was taken without consent, however not keeping you PIN safe might be an issue.

elsien

The OPG won’t be telling him the nature of the complaint until they need information because they don’t want a potentially dodgy LPA to be covering their tracks.
Could sibling be querying the validity of the LPA? 

Snowkittycat

Absolutely. I think you are right,the pin number being written down is always a bad idea. Thanks for your advice.