Would you report this to the police?

[RockOrAHardplace]

I am Executor of a Will for elderly person who recently died. Unknown to me, there had been an LPA in place for finances as elderly person was in a dementia care home. Once the elderly person passed the LPA was no longer valid and it all fell to me as executor.

Transpires the person entrusted with the LPA robbed her blind and didn't pay any of her bills despite taking the money from the account. Nor did they register the LPA with the elderly persons bank. LPA was also taken out 2 years after elderly person had lost her mental capacity and was in a dementia care home. According to bank statements, whilst in dementia care home, which she never left, said elderly woman was buying designer clothes at Urban Outfitters, eating meals at nice restaurants, attending concerts and buying petrol for her car (elderly person never drove) and was having supermarket food deliveries delivered to a house 60 miles away where the holder of the LPA lived in a fully catered secure dementia care home..

Tried reporting to the Office of Public Guardian as the LPA should never have been allowed but as the elderly person is dead, their powers have lapsed.

Person who had the LPA entrusted cannot account for the whereabouts of the money, we are talking enough to buy a small house. There wasn't even any money to bury the person person in the estate (but before you ask the money came from elsewhere and she had a lovely funeral).

Would it be reasonable to report it to the Police or unreasonable to do so?

Yes, it needs reporting to the Police, this is fraud at the very least. You have bank statements etc, and can prove your relative was in a care home suffering from Dementia.

Sorry - I haven't read all the thread or even all the OPs posts as it is quite long, However, I've been in a similar situation and wondered if I might contribute?

I've always assumed that we had to report crime or else we would be considered complicit if the police found out later. So I have reported fraud in the past myself. However, the police said they were really busy and nothing was done.

Well done for all your detective work. It's sounds just like a detective novel.

Something quite similar happened in a wider family context, not my family if you understand what I mean and it didn't get reported to the police. The consensus was it would cause a lot of trouble. I found that very strange.

Absolutely. It's awful when an acquaintance or caregiver takes advantage of an elderly person, but so much more egregious when it's a family member. How disgraceful.

Any of your family who believe you should let it go are wrong. Anyone saying "oh no, he could go to jail" - that's precisely the point. He SHOULD go to jail.

Action Fraud is the national crime agency website for reporting this type of crime - you can report as an advocate

If you have proof of dates such as medical records, statements, residence etc. you can try reporting it to her bank. There's no guarantee they will repay any of it but they may consider refunding it to support paying off her outstanding bills.

You must report this to the police immediately. Fraud and deception. As an executor of a will it is your job to make sure everything is done correctly, and all monies accounted for. I have just been in this same position myself . As l say you have full responsibility and if you do not declare suspicious behaviour on the bank accounts, you could end up getting in trouble. You must be honest, that's why you were chosen to do this job. I would report this, as a matter of urgency, otherwise the police my look at investigating you....

Total scum.

We had similar happen to my mum by scummy so called brother.

Once mum had died we all went nc with him. He can rot in hail.

I may have missed mention of it in this thread, but coincidentally I saw this article on the bbc news site earlier. Unbelievable that anyone could be so callous and devious.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3zd40kdgyo

You can change your vote (as long as the poll is still active). Just press the other option.

Firstly, OP I am sorry that you have been placed in this situation - it is horrific. Having been through LPA for my father (now deceased) I can only say that you MUST report this person to the police. As LPA holder it is a legal requirement that you can account for everything and I mean everything. To not be able to do so and to have abused this position of trust is theft from a vulnerable person who entrusted you. An LPA holder is the 'voice' of the person who is no longer able to exert 'their voice', it is a position of extreme trust - I know it goes on but I cannot believe how people can do this to a vulnerable person. You sound like an extremely decent person, a very decent one - you must report this to the police and the Office of Public Guardian - please immdediately. Sending you strength.

Similar situation here, except the LPA holder simply transferred all the donor’s money to their own bank account.

opg can’t do anything as the LPA lapses after death.

i did report to the police but as the donor is now deceased I can’t prove it was done without her agreement so they can’t/won’t prosecute a criminal case.

so they get away with it .

All I can say is I hope the wrath of the karma gods/godesses reign down on people like this like a tonne of bricks - I would go to a solicitor and have the issue(s) raised (very publicly), maybe Citizens advice could help?

Good luck OP and I hope the police take this very seriously. What a despicable thief! Let us know how you get on.

Some people truly are just a human disgrace. All I can say is that they must not have one ounce of a conscience. OP you need to honour your family member by reclaiming what was stolen from them by this scumbag. The care home also deserves to be paid, they're underfunded as it is.

Definitely report to the police. I’ve just done an LPA form for mum and we needed an independent (non-family) witness for her signature. I’m surprised someone would do that if she quite clearly had dementia - although maybe I shouldn’t be! It’s fraud.

Oh and even if the police can put together a criminal case, if they don’t voluntarily pay the money back you will need to go to civil court to force them.

abuse of LPA and executor fraud is so easy, and very hard to get a conviction for.

Definitely needs reporting. I do hope it gets sorted!

Fuck no.

The evil bitch robbed a vulnerable woman, the fact that she was family makes it worse IMHO

Apparently there’s no obligation for a witness to an LPA to confirm they even know what they’re signing.

it’s simply a witness to the form being signed. No more no less.

Yes the police, it's elderly abuse, and illegal.

It's fraud and as executor you have a legal duty to ensure that funds due to the estate are collected / accounted for to pass on to the beneficiaries. The fact it's a family member sadly shouldn't cloud the decision, they have committed fraud and acted outside of their legal responsibilities under the LPA.

Had today deal with something similar myself, it's unpleasant when it's a family member but that doesn't mean they should get away with fraud, theft and worst of all not even paying bills / living expenses , building up a debt which will sit with the estate.

This would make me feel want to report them even more.

How can a family member, someone who this person trusted do this to them, it’s just awful.

They didn’t do the right thing, now it’s up to you to do it. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this at all.

Seriously why would you have to think twice. Fuck that it’s family this is an old person who was fucking robbed. Tell me the details and j will report. See does that make your thinking better. You will be one horrible cow if you allow this to go unnoticed. My god give your head a wobble

unfortunately once an LPA is revoked or the donor dies, it is no longer within the remit of the OPG and they do not have the power to investigate.

one more loophole to ensure these people can get away with it.

these cases unfortunately are unlikely to meet the threshold of proof the CPS requires. Yet another loophole.

ours was quite clearly coercive control and financial abuse. Yet they won’t be charged because the victim isn’t here to be assessed for competency or state whether they gave permission.

I even raised it with the bank ombudsman as imo they should have noticed an elderly person not using their bank cards for over 2 years, and all their money being transferred to one person. But again, apparently there is no proof it wasn’t done by agreement.

in another case the bank actually do hold proof of a crime, but won’t investigate or report to the police as the deceased’s executor is the only one who can raise a complaint/they will provide the bank statements to. Guess who’s the one committing the fraud….

it’s honestly a shit show.