Help! Father badly scammed

Thanks once again everyone for your comments and supportive messages. I'll go through you comments and links in more detail.

I'm just back from seeing my dad and I took him to the pub and perked him up a bit. Its been a few weeks since it happened and because my mother has dementia he doesn't really have anyone to talk to so you can just spend your days dwelling and regretting. Anyway we aren't going down lightly.

What is interesting is the grooming process which I've learnt more about. My dad initially wanted to confirm they were from his bank and called them back. I think they employed the method of not putting down the phone from the other end and my father probably didn't listen out for the dialling tone and they were on the line all the time. My father also claimed he was suspicious initially and did 1471 on the phone and did get an FCA phone number. Not sure about that but needs looking into perhaps.

What I also well know is the fundamental reason for my dad to go down the chaotic road he did was fear. The fraudsters purporting to be from the FCA were threatening my father with prosecution if he didn't fully co-operate with their investigation. Under no circumstances must he discuss this with anyone because they claimed a criminal gang was working inside the back. They also claimed that my father's IFA was involved too. They successfully isolated my father and he did what they wanted like he was in a Derren Brown show.

I think the checks at the bank were a bit weak but I know some of you will disagree. For example my father went in and said he wanted to make a transfer to a bank in Abu Dhabi for £240K. The bank clerk recognised my dad (he pays his tax bill - no more that £100) and asked him if he was satisfied it was a legitimate account. My dad said yes and it was done in a minute. He did get a call from the Bank confirming that he wanted to go ahead but no other questions asked. This was repeated twice more over two days until the money was gone. Obviously the bank will argue that 1. The account details were correct, 2. They were satisfied in my dad's identity and 3. He showed no sign of being on edge.

The IFA did simply comply with my father's wishes and cashed-in his SIPP. I would argue that little if any due diligence was conducted by the company. My father had a 5 minute call with his adviser who asked if my father was sure. Also when they cashed in the Sipp they only applied a basic 20% of tax. This meant that my father became a high rate tax payer on the money he received. If they had applied the correct PAYE tax on the amount my father would have received less, lost less and not be facing a potentially large tax bill of 90-100k.

Is anyone familiar with the recent Berkeley Burke v FOS ruling? Not exactly the same but it was found that even executor-only SIPP providers should ensure that their clients are not being scammed . I think if the victim in this case is found to have been poorly advised then I think it could be argued that my father has a complaint.

Anyway lots to think about and the great thing is I'm learning a hell of a lot.

Thanks again everyone.